Under the Summer Rain
by SpotConlon'sGirl
Summary: Eris is on the Hunter Gratzner, headed to Helion Prime. But things obviously don't go as planned when the cargo ship crash lands on a barren planet and they have to rely on a convict to get them out...alive. RiddickOC
1. Prologue

**A/N: Plot bunnies at work again, along with Riddick this time. His stare had been making me uncomfortable, so I finally posted the story like he wanted me to. (Do you know how hard it is to find the movie transcript/script online? lol) More coming later. Review!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Black or Richard B. Riddick, unfortunately. That said, don't sue me. I only have $3.15 in the bank and a closet full of high heels. **

**Prologue**

_They say most of your brain shuts down in cyro-sleep. All but the primitive side...the animal side. _

_No wonder I'm still awake. _

_Transporting me with civilians. Sounded like 40, 40-plus. Heard an Arab voice. Some hoodoo holy man. Probably on his way to New Mecca. But what route? What route?_

_Smelled a woman. _

_Sweat, boots, tool belt, leather. Prospector type. Free settlers. And they only take the back roads. Smelled another woman. Leather again. Sweat, revenge, a fire bubbling below the surface. Younger than the other one. I'd say 19, 20. _

_And here's my real problem: Mr. Johns, blue-eyed devil._

_Planning on taking me back to slam...only this time he picked a ghost lane. A long time between stops. _

_A long time for something to go wrong. _


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sorry for the short chappie, but I kind of wanted to write the story scene by scene, and if it means occasional short chapters, then oh well. Remember, R&R!**

**Chapter 1**

I moaned softly as I was dragged from cyro-sleep. Why was I awake? We still had a few weeks to go, right? I felt the unnatural rocking of the ship and opened my eyes, fighting the lingering drowsiness. What was going on?

The ship was being battered from side to side, and I noticed one dead body in a cyro chamber across from me. Then I remembered that the line of chambers on that side were for ship personnel only. Two of the chambers were open and empty. I swallowed uneasily.

A heard a hiss followed by a thud as someone climbed out of their chamber. I screamed in surprise as the ship leaned dangerously to one side, causing me to be flung from my own chamber. I fell with a groan to the metal floor, then felt someone tugging on my arm.

I looked up to see the merc, Johns I think his name was, standing over me, trying to help me up. I clumsily stood as my blood started pumping through my legs again, shaking off his hand when I was able to finally stand on my own.

"What the fuck is going on?" I asked, smoothing my long, wavy dark hair away from my face. A slight movement to my right caught my eye and I turned to see the chamber where the convict, Richard B. Riddick was held.

I could understand him being tied up and all, but the whole bit and blindfold thing? That was just inhumane in my opinion. Looking closer, I saw the tiniest tear in the black cloth wrapped around his bald head and a dim blue light shining from underneath.

He was awake.

And he knew that I knew, because one side of his lip curled up slightly. I quickly turned back around, ignoring John's questioning look. His eyes slid past my shoulder to stare at Riddick as if to make sure his payload was still safe and sound.

"I don't know," he replied, answering my question from earlier.

We both froze as a large _crack_ sounded behind us. I turned around to see what it was, then wished I hadn't.

The hull was cracking in the back of the ship.

Johns and I launched into action, both of us grabbing onto metal beams on either side of the main cabin and holding on with all of our might. Just in time, too, for not even ten seconds later, the back of the ship was ripped off, disintegrating almost immediately.

I watched in horror, the wind whipping my hair furiously, as almost all of the cyro chambers slid out of the ruined ship, disappearing in the cloud of dust we were kicking up as we hurtled over an orange, unknown planet. I felt my fingers slipping from the metal and gritted my teeth, using my arm muscles to pull me closer so I could grasp tighter. There was another big lurch and I screamed as shit started flying everywhere.

The ship seemed to be slowing, but we weren't out of danger yet because it was still rocking every which way, uprooting the remaining cyro chambers and tossing any loose items into the air. I felt the air whoosh out of me when something rammed into my stomach, my hold automatically loosening on the beam. I flew backwards and rammed into a locker with a sickening thud. That was going to hurt later, I was sure, especially since I felt a trickle of warm liquid drip onto my neck.

The ship gave a lurch and I was propelled forward again, this time into a wall, then the floor, where I lay crumpled in a heap, black spots swimming in my eyes. I felt a large thud, and then blackness overcame me.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, forgive me if the dialogue from the movie doesn't belong to the person who spoke it or isn't quite right. I haven't seen the movie for a while and I'm taking the dialoge from 2 different scripts: the original 1998 one and a poorly made fan transcript. Once I watch the movie again, I'll come back and change it, but for now...deal with it. lol. Check my Xanga for a picture of who I think would play Eris. Remember, review!**

**Chapter 2**

I slowly regained consciousness to hear the sounds of moaning and people calling out to one another. I gently sat up, wincing as my battered body screamed in protest. Standing, one hand against the wall to steady myself, I made my way to where the other survivors were beginning to group together.

A slightly bleeding Johns stumbled past me towards Riddick's empty locker. I paused and let my eyes follow the man with an unexplained sense of satisfaction that Riddick had escaped, if only for a little while. I quickly sobered when I looked out of the ruined ship. We had left skid marks in the sand miles long, debris scattered all over the place. I shivered when I thought of those who hadn't made it.

I shook those thoughts out of my head, almost nervously smoothing my hands along my low cut, leather clad pants leg, the deep red color reminding me of blood. No time for that; gotta deal with the here and now.

With that mind set, I determinedly made my way through the rubble, a kid named Jack, excitedly announcing my arrival.

"Look! We got another one!"

I hopped over a large piece of debris that was blocking my path before joining the little group of survivors. I thought I heard the sound of a scuffle behind me, but saw nothing and dismissed it with a little shrug.

Some of the friendlier people aboard the _Hunter Gratzner_ had made their introductions at the beginning of the voyage, before we went into cyro-sleep and I gave a sigh of relief when I saw that the ragtag group was composed of most of them. The rest, well...you can figure out what happened to them.

"Eris, are you alright?" Shazza, the black haired Australian asked, a worried frown on her face. I gave her a confused look as she came up to me and gently prodded my bared midriff. I gasped in pain and gave her a glare.

"What the hell was that?" I growled. Shazza seemed taken aback by my tone.

"You've got a huge bruise on your stomach darling."

That's when I remembered the flying object that had hit me earlier, causing me to lose my grip on the beam. I gave a little grunt and waved her and her concerns away. I'd be fine.

She shrugged and went back to her boyfriend Zeke's side, stepping around Jack who now stood in front of me.

"You okay, Eris?" he asked.

"I'm fine, but thanks for asking," I replied with a small smile. This kid was probably the only one I was actually nice to. I couldn't help it, he was so damn sarcastic he reminded me of myself.

When his eyes fell to my chest area, the smile immediately left my face to be replaced with a scowl.

'_Same one track mind'_, I thought.

"What's a love boat?" he asked, referring to the words written in sparkly red glitter on my white tank top. I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"I really don't know," I admitted. "I just bought this at a market because I liked it."

Jack nodded at my answer, then suggested we head to where Shazza, Zeke, the antique collector Paris, and the holy man Imam and his three students were gathered towards the front of the ship. We moved forward, Johns coming up behind us, a satisfied smirk on his face. I figured he re-caught Riddick and found myself disappointed that he had.

I didn't know why, but I was drawn to Richard B. Riddick, convicted murderer and multiple times escaped convict. Maybe it was the stories I heard, that he only killed when necessary and that he was alone and had always been alone since birth. No one should be alone.

_'Yet here you are,_' I thought. _'All alone._'

No. I couldn't think of that, not now. I needed to wait for the opportune moment, and this most certainly wasn't it. I was torn from my thoughts when a pained scream ripped through the cabin, causing goose flesh to appear on my tanned arms. I pushed through Imam and Shazza to find Carolyn Fry kneeling on the floor beside a dead crew member who had a metal bar shoved through his chest.

I felt Jack trying to push his way forward and moved to the side so he could see better. Shazza sent me a glare, but I just shrugged. I wasn't the kid's mother. Everyone jumped in surprise, me included, when the 'dead' crewie suddenly screamed his head off.

"Out, out, out, GET IT OUTTA ME!"

Everyone started talking, offering suggestions. I kept quiet and moved to the back of the group, not wanting to see anymore. I noticed that Jack had followed me, a slightly queasy expression on his face.

I gingerly sat down on a pile of debris, wincing a little when my stomach muscles constricted. Jack sat beside down beside me as we tried to block out the group's voices.

"So, how old are you kid?" I asked, rubbing the tense muscles of my neck with one hand. When I drew it away, it was smeared with blood. Damn. I had forgotten about that.

"12," Jack answered. Then mischievously, "How old are you?"

"Don't you know it's never polite to ask a woman her age?" I deadpanned. "But, since we both aren't polite...I'm 19."

Jack nodded his head. We both looked up when the small group headed towards us, pained expressions on their faces. I didn't see Carolyn, so I guessed she had sent them away for a minute of privacy with her fellow crewie.

We all moved outside, Jack, Johns and I at the tail end of the group. We passed Riddick who was against a beam with his hands tied behind his back, the blindfold and bit still in place. I couldn't do anything without getting my own ass in trouble, so I just walked past, giving Riddick a quick wink as I went by.

Almost blinded by the sudden burst of light, I covered my eyes with my hands and cursed, hearing Johns do the same somewhere over on my left. After a few minutes I took my hands away and let my eyes adjust to the light.

Damn, no wonder why it was so bright outside; the planet we were on had two suns! One was a fiery red, the other a bright yellow. I desperately wished I had something to tie my long hair up with, since the temperature had gone up a few degrees since I stepped out of the ship.

We all looked out at the empty terrain, the only break in the flatness was from a group of low hills to one side, a few earthen spikes rising in the air. Everyone had a complete look of hopelessness on their faces, and I'm sure my face mirrored it as well.

Imam and his students had wandered off a little ways to pray it seemed, while the rest of us stayed put. Carolyn came out of the ship a few minutes later, tear stains on her face.

"Is anyone else having difficulties breathing?" Paris asked suddenly. I looked at him in surprise, because only now did I realize that I was having a little bit of trouble taking in air.

"Yeah, I feel one lung short," Shazza said. "All of us."

"I feel like I just ran or something," Jack agreed.

We all looked at Carolyn, though I already knew the answer.

"It's the atmosphere," she said, squinting up at the two suns. "Too much pressure, not enough oxygen. Might take a few days to-"

"So what the bloody hell happened, anyway?" Zeke interrupted.

Carolyn shrugged and I figured she didn't really know anymore than we did.

"Something knocked us off-lane. Maybe a rogue comet. I don't know."

There was a heavy silence before Shazza spoke up.

"Well I for one, am thoroughly fucking grateful. This beast wasn't made to land like this." We all surveyed the damaged ship. "But I think you did well. The only reason we're alive is because of her."

We all expressed our thanks, crowding around to give Carolyn a pseudo hug. I thought I saw a shadow of guilt flicker over her face, but it was gone so fast I figured I had imagined it.

Almost everyone headed over towards the large container that had all of our baggage and emergency gear in it, except for Johns, Carolyn, and myself. Johns raised an eyebrow in my direction, but I just gave him the finger, not in the mood for his patronizing shit.

Carolyn went back inside the ship, me following close behind. We left Johns outside to do who knows what. Carolyn went over to a few canisters and started digging around in them as I snuck a glance in her direction before quickly moving towards the beam where Riddick was tied.

I was walking silently so nobody would be able to hear me, yet as I approached Riddick, he tilted his head to one side to listen. I froze, my heart hammering in my chest.

"I know you're there."

Oh God, his voice was killing me with its sensuality. It was deep baritone and sounded like gravel, a perfect match for his muscular frame.

"So, you got me," I said, stopping about 2 or 3 feet away from him. There was an awkward silence as he seemed to study me through the tear in the fabric of the blindfold. I felt as if he could see right through me, down to my very soul, and I didn't like it one bit.

"Stop staring," I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

He chuckled, a low rumbling sound.

"You got fire," he said. He cocked his head to the side again, letting me know that someone was coming. I quickly moved back a few steps before Carolyn appeared. She looked a little startled to see me, but I just gave her a lazy smile.

Johns came up behind Carolyn a few seconds later, scaring the shit out of her when he spoke.

"He escaped from a maximum prison," he said.

We all looked at Riddick and I felt some admiration. So. The stories I heard were true then.

"So, do we just keep him locked up forever?" Carolyn asked, a slightly accusatory tone to her voice.

"Well, that would be my choice," Johns replied with a grin. I shook my head in disgust.

"Well guess what buddy boy, it isn't really your choice, now is it?" I sneered. What an asshole. He shot me a glare and I returned it full force.

"Is he really that dangerous?" Carolyn asked, nervously breaking our glaring contest. Johns shot me one last glare before turning to look at her. I smirked in satisfaction.

"Only around humans," he said. I rolled my eyes at his dramatic tone.

We stood there for a few more seconds before Johns and Carolyn started moving out. I stayed put until Johns looked over his shoulder and wagged a finger at me.

"Come on now, sweet cheeks," he said. "I know what's going through your pretty little head and unless you want to be tied up like him, you better haul some ass and get over here."

"Ooh, worried I'll free your paycheck?" I shot back, the corner of my mouth curling upwards when I heard a snort from Riddick. But, I did what Johns told me to do and followed them back outside.

What a pompous dumbass.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey everyone! I just want to say thank you to all my readers and reviewers, and to all of you who put me on your alerts/favorites list. You have no idea how happy that makes me. Alright, well here's the newest chapter, hope you lot like it. Enjoy, and_ don't forget to review!_ **

**Disclaimer: Don't own _Pitch Black_ or Riddick (sadly). If I did, Riddick and I would be long gone, driving off somewhere in my Lambo. Therefore, don't sue. **

**Chapter 3**

The three of us left the ship and headed towards the cargo hold, each one wrapped into our own thoughts. We joined the rest of the survivors, Johns and Paris opening the doors. We trooped inside the dim hold, me seeing stars as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Imam and his boys and Shazza and Zeke stayed outside.

Paris stopped at a container and took out some keys. "Mine here."

As the man fumbled with the keys, Johns suddenly swayed a bit and leaned against the wall for support.

"You O.K?" Carolyn asked.

Johns straightened up and pasted an easy grin on his face. " Little swamp-flu from the Congo system. Never shook it with all this cryo-sleep."

Carolyn nodded while I inwardly scoffed. _Swamp-flu my ass_, I thought. Something else was wrong with the man and he was covering it up. His eyes met mine, a mocking smile on his face. I gave him the finger then turned away. That man irritated me to no end with his self-assured, cocky-ass attitude.

Paris finally got the key in and opened the door, allowing all of us to step inside.

"What is all this?" I asked, amazed as I looked around. It seemed as if I was in some kind of museum or something. The whole container was filled with ancient looking artifacts and large chests full of who knows what.

"King Tut's tomb..." Johns remarked.

"Be surprised what these will fetch in the Taurus system," Paris said, kneeling by a large desk. "Here, this Wooten here—easy, easy. Very rare."

We all crowded around as he opened it to reveal a bunch of bottles.

"What is that?" Jack asked, a disbelieving look on his face. "Bottles?"

"It's booze," I breathed, licking my lips. At this point I was in serious need of a good drink.

"This is it?" Carolyn asked. "_Booze?_ That's what you have to drink?"

"Hey," I protested, "Don't be hating!"

I almost laughed at Paris' horrified look.

"200-year-old single-malt scotch is to 'booze' as foie gras is to 'duck guts'," he said with a glare.

Johns had already opened a bottle and now lifted it in the air towards Paris. "A toast to whatever he just said."

I heartily agreed, but said nothing as I rifled gently through the bottles. Didn't want Johns thinking I was agreeing with him specifically. _Best just to keep quiet_, I thought as I grabbed a frosted bottle full of clear liquid. Ah, Belvedere vodka. The best.

I decided to head out of the cargo hold, Jack joining me. As we left, I heard Paris say, "I'll need a receipt for that" which made me laugh. The kid looked at me like I had grown a second head, but I ignored him.

I passed Imam and his boys and Shazza and Zeke, raising my bottle in salute. I broke the seal and unscrewed the cap, taking a big swig. I sifted the liquid in my mouth for a few seconds before swallowing, relishing the burning sensation as it went down my throat.

"Whoa!"

I had completely forgotten about the kid beside me and when I looked at him, his face had this look of awe on it.

"What?" I asked, confused. Was he looking at me or something on the planet?

"That was awesome," he said, grinning. Oh. It was me.

"Eh, I've had practice," I said giving a little shrug. "Wanna try?"

Jack eagerly took the bottle and before I could warn him, he took a big gulp. I rolled my eyes when he thrust the bottle back into my hands, coughing and spluttering.

"You start by taking small sips," I said flatly, taking another swig for myself. "You don't ever start out with huge gulps. Remember that."

Jack nodded, still coughing. I cracked a smile before realizing that our aimless walking had led us right back to the damaged ship. Well, why not? I left the kiddo and went inside, pausing for a few seconds to let my eyes adjust before making my way to the back where Riddick was tied up. Except...he wasn't there.

I froze, eyes darting to every dark nook and cranny where he might be hiding. Nothing. I slowly relaxed and took another drink of the vodka to calm my nerves. Yes I was drawn to the man, but that didn't mean I wasn't nervous about him being on the loose. I didn't _think_ he'd hurt me, but then again, I had no real guarantee.

"Uh, Riddick?" I ventured. There wasn't a sound. Alright, well time to go; if he's gone, he's gone.

With that settled, I turned around and ran into something hard, almost falling on my ass. That is, until two large hands grabbed my elbows to steady me, pulling my flush against a warm body. I looked up...and up...to see Riddick's goggle-covered eyes staring down at me.

"Oh. Um, hey," I said, licking my lips. "Thanks for saving the alcohol."

A low chuckle rumbled through his chest. "The alcohol?"

"Hell yeah," I grinned. "It's all we got. Plus, Belvedere is the shit. No sense in wasting it. Want some?"

He let go of my arms so I was able to step back a bit as I handed him the bottle. He went bottoms up and fucking _chugged_ the vodka. I snapped out of my momentary shock when I realized that he wasn't stopping.

"Hey, hey!" I cried indignantly. "Don't drink all of it!"

He stopped and handed it back to me, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"Damn, Big Bad," I grumbled, taking a swig, "Same some for the rest of us. Mainly me."

He cracked a smile, before stiffening.

"I suggest you leave. Now," he said, his gravelly voice holding a warning in it.

"Why?" I asked, already moving towards the exit.

"Johns," was all Riddick said before he melted into the shadows.

"Shit!"

I knew if Johns caught me here he'd automatically assume I had let Riddick go, no matter what I said, so I hightailed it outta there, stumbling in the sand when the sun hit my eyes. I felt rather than saw Johns rush past me, and quickly got my ass into gear. Ignoring Johns swearing behind me, I trotted towards the others.

I was brought up short when Johns grabbed my arm and hauled me around to face him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I asked, pissed at being manhandled. My arm was seriously going to have a bruise later.

"You let him escape!" Johns shouted at me, his face a mask of fury.

"I did not!" I shouted back, wrenching my arm away. "And I don't appreciate you touching me."

"What's going on here?" Carolyn asked, eyebrow raised, hands on her hips.

Our little shouting match had drawn the others over to see what was going on, including Imam and his boys.

"This little bitch let Riddick escape," Johns hissed, pointing at me.

"I did no such thing," I snarled, ignoring the horrified gasps of the others. "I was looking for something in my cryo-locker."

"Oh yeah, what?" Johns scoffed.

"My necklace that my dead mother gave me," I said evenly, daring him to argue.

_Sorry mom,_ I thought as everyone glared at Johns. I gave a tiny sigh of relief when I realized that they believed me over Johns. Apparently Johns realized it too, because after giving me a final glare, he stalked off muttering under his breath. _Eris, you still got it,_ I thought.

"Did you find it?" Carolyn asked.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Your necklace. Did you find it?"

I shook my head in fake sadness. "No. It's probably buried somewhere."

Shazza and Carolyn gave me looks of sympathy.

"Come on, lets get back to the cargo hold and find anything that can be used as a weapon," Carolyn said. Everyone nodded in agreement and started migrating towards the hold. Jack and I followed behind the group, me taking a _much_ needed drink of vodka.

We re-entered the cargo hold and spread out, going through our individual lockers. I quickly opened mine and snorted at how little there was in it. I headed straight to the bag that held my weapons and opened it. I heard a noise behind me and whirled around, a shiv in my hand.

Jack froze, eyes wide. I relaxed and turned back to my bag, tucking the shiv into my boot.

"Don't you have any weapons at all?" I asked Jack, placing weapons on the floor. I'd have to choose what to take and what to leave, since not all of them were meant to be carried around for long periods of time.

"No," the kid said, kneeling beside me.

"Here."

I handed him two of my smaller shivs and instructed him where to put it so they would be easily accessible. For myself I grabbed a wicked looking knife I had picked up in my travels and a few other strategically hidden shivs.

"What are these?" Jack asked, fingering my throwing stars.

"Those are called throwing stars," I said and decided to take two of them. "They originated from planet Earth, in a country called Japan."

"Cool!" Jack said. I glanced at the kid and smiled. It looked like Christmas came early for him.

I closed the bag and picked up my vodka bottle, twirling a star in my fingers. I had hidden the other one in my other boot.

"Come on, let's see what the others got."

We walked outside and followed Zeke and Shazza towards the _Hunter. _When we entered I immediately noticed that Johns was standing there, without Riddick, thank goodness.

"Alright, what do we have?" Johns asked, showing his pistol, shotgun, and baton. Zeke and Shazza offered up a pick-ax, some digging tools, and a hunting boomerang which was pretty neat. Imam held up a beautifully intricate ceremonial blade.

"I have a knife and some shivs. Jack does too," I said, not bothering to show him. I had hidden the star I was playing with on the way over and had strapped the knife to my waist with a thin black leather belt so it rested against my hip.

We all turned when Paris shuffled in, a bunch of stuff in his arms.

"What the hell are these?" Johns asked as we helped unload Paris' weapons.

"Maratha crow-bill war-picks from Northern India. Very rare," Paris said.

"And this?" Zeke asked, holding up a bamboo stick.

"Blow-dart hunting stick from Papau New Guinea," Paris replied. "Very, _very_ rare, since the tribe's extinct."

"Because they couldn't hunt shit with these things, be my guess," Zeke mused.

"Well, what's the need, anyway?" Paris asked Johns. "If he's gone, he's gone. Why should he bother us?"

We all stopped going through Paris' weapons to listen.

"First, because he can only live out there for so long – he's gonna come back and take what we got. Second, for the sheer thrill of the kill." Johns said it matter-of-factly, no trace of bravado or bullshit in his voice. It made _me_ shiver and I wasn't even scared of Riddick, who knows what it was doing to the others. After a pause, everyone grabbed a weapon each.

Things were really starting to heat up now.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Another chapter! w00t! I'm on a roll, I swear. lol Alright, people, here's the deal: I'm not posting another chapter until I get at least 5 more reviews. It takes you who-knows-how-long to read this story, so could you please spare 30 seconds to tell me whether or not you enjoy it? Really. Anonymous reviews are welcome as well. **

**Now, on to my reviewers! **

**Honey76:** Thanks for the review, it made me smile. Eris's past, etc. will be coming up shortly, but not in one fell swoop. She'll probably be sharing some with Riddick in the next chapter or so, but she doesn't trust people enough to tell them everything immediately.

**NotAfraidToLive:** Thank you! Here's another update for ya. ;)

**MercuryAshlingPrincess:** Thanksies! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Inferno:** Your wish is my command. -poof- A new update!

**Chapter 4**

After the weapons discussion, we all split up. Johns climbed the hull to 'scout' while Paris said something about building a lookout. Imam and his boys were busy re-wrapping their turbans or whatever, while Shazza said she'd get the breathers ready. Naturally, Zeke followed. Jack looked at me, questioning.

"I guess we can help," I said, shrugging.

We followed Shazza back to the container and as we passed the ship, I stopped. Jack kept walking.

Carolyn was inside, wrapping the body of her fellow crewie in a large blanket she had found and I could see tears on her cheeks. At that moment she looked up, a guarded yet almost hopeful expression on her face.

_Hopeful?_ I thought. _What the hell does this woman have to be hopeful about? I say let the dead bury the dead. _

It wasn't that I didn't want to help, because I did. Sort of. But we needed to worry about covering our asses and getting out of here ourselves, not wasting time on people that were already dead. I learned that early on, believe me. I gave her one last look before moving on toward the container.

"You are one cold-hearted bitch, you know that?"

I heard Johns above me and squinted in the light from the setting sun. He was up on the hull, arms crossed, legs spread eagle. A very arrogant pose, me thinks.

"I don't see you in there helping her either," I retorted, raising an eyebrow. I nodded when Johns didn't reply. "That's what I thought."

I joined the Shazza and the rest, surprised at how fast they had got the breathers out. Jack was currently testing one and breathed in, then gave Shazza a thumbs up. Excellent. Now we'd have some air.

I was pulling on a breather when Carolyn came out of the ship and headed our way, pausing to look at the setting suns.

"Imam. We should leave soon," she said when she reached us. "Before nightfall but while it's cooler."

I glanced at her with interest. So, they were sending out a scouting party, eh?

"What, you're goin' off too?" Zeke asked.

"Johns is leaving you a gun," Carolyn replied. Oh. Well, that shot down my interest. The dumbass was going. "Just do me a favor, huh? Get my crewies buried? They were good guys who died bad."

She avoided looking at me the whole time she was talking, which didn't really bother me. To each her own, right?

"Of course we will," Shazza said, giving Carolyn a reassuring smile.

We all turned when one of Imam's boys came running from the other side of the ship, shouting excitedly.

"Imam! Imam!"

As one we rounded the corner and I felt my eyes widen. A bright blue star was rising as the suns were setting right behind us, casting a weird, bluish light on everything.

"My bloody oath..." Shazza breathed.

"No way," Jack said. "Three suns?"

"So much for your nightfall," Zeke said to Carolyn.

Imam spoke up. "We take this to be a good sign – a path, a direction from God."

I almost slugged Johns when he swung down from the hull, nearly landing on me. I settled for a glare that would have killed him on the spot, if only it were possible.

"A very good sign," he agreed. He looked at the blue sun. "That's Riddick's direction. You do _not_ wanna be caught in the dark with this guy."

"Thought you found his restraints over there," Carolyn interjected, tilting her head behind us. "Toward sunset."

Whoa, Johns had found his restraints? When?

The man nodded. "Which means he went toward sunrise."

Johns grabbed his ever-present shotgun while Carolyn picked up Paris' second war-pick and slung it over her shoulder. Imam gathered his boys and they struck out toward the blue sunrise. I shrugged and secretly wished them luck before going back to the container.

"I'll work on the burials," Zeke announced, heading into the cabin to get the crewie's body, most likely.

Shazza, Jack, and I went back in the container to find anything else we might need. I took my breather off and put it on the table before I went in. No sense in wasting precious oxygen, I figured.

Zeke passed by pulling a metal sled full of tarp, a pick-ax, and cables. He stopped by Paris' lookout on top of the ship and shouted up at the man who was relaxing in a chair under an umbrella. I was close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Comfy up there?" Zeke asked.

"Amazing how you can do without the essentials of life – so long as you have the luxuries," Paris said flippantly.

I rolled my eyes at that.

"Well just keep your bloody fucking eyes open," Zeke growled, annoyed. "Don't want that ragbag sneaking' up on my bloody fucking ares."

"Right," Paris said, adjusting himself in the chair, settling the war-pick across his knees. Zeke just sighed and pulled the sled toward the spired hills we had noticed earlier. I was about to join Shazza in the container when I caught movement in my peripheral vision.

I snickered and almost lost it right there when Jack snuck up behind Paris and slipped the boomerang under his throat. The man's terrified face was priceless.

"He'd probably get you right there, right under the jaw," Jack said lowly, a grin on his face. "And you'd never hear him coming. That's how good Riddick is."

I remembered my fright back at the ship when Riddick has snuck up noiselessly behind me and heartily agreed with the kid. Riddick _was_ good. I turned my attention back to the two on top of the ship and strained for Paris' reply.

"Now did you run away from your parents? Or did they run away from you?"

At that I lost it, letting out a burst of hysterical laughter. Jack gave me a wide grin as I leaned against the table for support, still laughing. Paris huffed and turned away from me as the kid jumped down to join me.

"You did good, kid," I gasped, getting my breath back. Wow, couldn't't laugh that hard again. Not as much oxygen, gotta remember that.

"Thanks. I thought so too," Jack winked.

"C'mon, let's see what Shazza's doing."

We went inside the container to find Shazza in her locker, going through some odds and ends. She looked up when we entered and looked at us curiously.

"What were you two laughing at out there?"

Jack and I glanced at each other.

"Nothing," we said at the same time. God, I felt like such a kid at that point, especially when Shazza gave us a look that clearly showed her disbelief.

"Uh-huh. Well, I was just going through my stuff in case we do find a way out. Let's take some stuff outside and put it on the table," she said, gathering up a few items. She pointed to the pile she wanted moved, then headed outside. Jack and I picked up some stuff and followed her, placing everything on the table. Shazza waved to Zeke who was busy digging. He had set up the tarp like a makeshift tent and it seemed as if he was almost finished with the graves themselves.

The three of us went back inside the container to get more stuff. A few seconds later, we heard Paris shout Jack's name.

"What?" he shouted back, his voice echoing on the metal sides.

We moved on to some plastic containers, cutting them open to see if there was anything we might need in them, the sunlight filtering through the slats now that we had moved from the individual lockers.

"Tell me that was you."

We turned to see a white-faced Paris standing behind us, war-pick in hand.

"O.K...it was me," Jack said, a confused look on his face. "What'd I do now?"

"Assailing my fragile sense of security, that's what," Paris replied.

Shazza and I shared a look.

"What are you going on about?" Shazza demanded. "He's been right here for the last..."

She stopped mid-sentence when the sunbeams were momentarily blocked by something moving outside. _Someone._

"Zeke?" Shazza probed quietly.

"Carolyn?" I hissed, drawing my knife and moving toward the opening.

Jack sprang to the metal wall and peered through a slat, then whirled around.

"RIDDICK!" he mouthed, eyes wide.

Paris went even whiter, if possible and Shazza grabbed the pick out of his hand, creeping silently behind me. We took our places on either side of the main doors and poised there, ready to strike. Jack came up behind Shazza, boomerang ready

I highly doubted it was Riddick, but it might be some kind of life form from the planet itself. Maybe friendly...then again, maybe not. The sun beams kept flicking as the person moved closer. I licked my lips and gripped my knife harder. Shazza tensed and took a shallow breath.

A body appeared in front of us and we both sprung into action.

"No!"

We stopped at Jack's shout, my knife and Shazza's pick barely an inch away from the man's chest. Yes, it was a man. In fact, it was a burned, half-naked survivor from the crash.

"I thought..." he gasped, "My God, I thought I was the only one who..."

He lurched toward us...and then froze. I heard a shot then felt something warm splash on my face and neck and touched my cheek. My hand came away crimson. I looked at the man, horrified as he fell to the ground, dead.

Zeke stood in front of us, pistol raised. He took a look at our faces and swore, realizing his mistake.

"Oh Lord..." Paris whispered, coming out of hiding.

"It was just somebody else," Jack rambled, in a bit of a shock. "From the crash. He was just..."

"Cripes galore, I thought it was him," Zeke stuttered. "The murderin' ratbag. I thought it was..."

"Like hell that man was Riddick," I muttered, sheathing my knife. Please, are you kidding me? Jesus.

I moved away from the gory scene to find some cloth to wipe the blood off of me. _Damn_, I thought, looking down at myself. _It stained my shirt._ _I love this shirt._

Oh well. It was irrelevant at this point anyway. As I stood by the table, wiping my neck and face, (I had found a cloth from Shazza's pile of stuff) I just happened to glance up at the lookout and snorted in amusement.

Riddick was reclining in Paris' chair, sipping from his bottle of sherry. I shook my head as I wiped myself off, but said nothing to draw attention to him. Riddick turned toward me and raised the bottle in salute, to which I bowed my head.

By the time I had finished cleaning myself off from the man's blood, Shazza and Zeke had wrapped him in a tarp and Zeke was currently dragging the body toward the graves. He ducked under the tarp that had fallen on one side, disappearing from view.

Shazza came to clean herself off while a silent Paris and Jack picked up the discarded weapons, placing them on the table beside us. My eyes darted to the lookout and I gave a tiny sigh of relief when I saw that Riddick had vanished.

We all jumped when gun shots echoed through the air.

"Zeke!" Shazza shrieked.

I took of running, Shazza beside me, the others not able to keep up with us. We ran to the tarp, Shazza pulling it aside with a scream to reveal another bloody mess...and Riddick. A bone-shiv in hand, he stood on the other side of the grave, staring dispassionately at us.

He took off as Shazza and I stared the the trail of blood that led to an equally bloody hole.

_Why was he digging a hole?_ I thought, confused.

Shazza growled and took off after Riddick.

"Shit."

I ran after her, hoping she wouldn't do anything stupid. We rounded a spire to find Riddick on the ground, Johns kicking and hitting him mercilessly.

"Hey, stop it!" I shouted angrily. He was beating him like an animal, not a human being for crying out loud. Shazza tried to rush them, but I thrust her back, storming forward myself.

"Johns! Knock it off!"

I saw Carolyn and the others come up from my peripheral vision, but ignored them. My focus was completely on Johns.

"I said..." I growled, shoving the man away with both hands. "Knock it off!"

Johns glared and swung a fist at me, which I ducked. I gave him a punch of my own which barely connected because he dodged, then followed up with a nice roundhouse to the face, jerking him back quite a bit. I was so pissed I wasn't thinking straight, so when I tried another roundhouse kick (stupid, no?), Johns managed to grab my leg. He twisted my foot so I was facing away from him and jabbed his gun in the small of my back sending me to the ground in a face plant.

"You fucker," I spluttered, spitting sand out of my mouth.

"No!"

I looked up at Jack's shout just in time to see the butt of Johns' gun coming toward me. A dull thud, lots of pain, and then blackness.


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey everyone, got another update for y'all! Got a hot makeout session between Eris and Riddick, plus a teeny bit of Eris' background. It will be explained fully later, but more in the sequel. (Yes, there will be a sequel) Finally finished this chappie at 3:46 am and I am headed to my nice, warm bed. Sorry if there's a bunch of mistakes. Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'll do shout-outs to everyone next chappie. I LOVED reading them. Remember, R&R!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Riddick. Go away, don't sue me.**

**Chapter 5**

I regained consciousness with a groan, my head pounding. What happened? Oh yeah. Johns. Damn motherfucker. I groaned again and snuggled closer to...wait, snuggled? I jerked up in surprise and found myself in a slightly awkward position.

I was tied up and straddling Riddick's lap.

Not that I was complaining, of course. My eyes met Riddick's and I sucked in a breath. His goggles were gone, showing off his shined eyes.

"Beautiful..." I whispered, forgetting our current position. Every time he moved, his eyes shined from within like the many facets of a jewel. Fucking beautiful.

Riddick's lips curled up into a smirk at my comment, but I ignored him as I tried to figure out whether or not I would be able to get out of this. Riddick was sitting in a chair with his arms spread eagle, hands tied to a type of metal cord. I was sitting on him with my legs free as well, but my wrists had light metal bands on them and were attached to Riddick's chain causing me to be pressed up against him. In essence, if he moved, I moved.

"Well, this really sucks," I muttered, shifting, trying to find a slightly more comfortable position.

Riddick only grunted. Frustrated, I gave the chains a good shake and dropped my head in the curve of Riddick's neck, wincing at my still tender head.

"I hate being tied up," I moaned pathetically. "Damn it! I swear I'm gonna hurt that bastard..."

We stayed like that for a few minutes before I felt Riddick _sniffing_ me. I jerked up again.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked curiously, frowning at the amusement shining in his eyes.

"It's been a while since I smelled beautiful," he rumbled, the corner of his lip curling up into a smirk.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Do say that to every girl?" I retorted.

"No," he answered simply.

I paused, at a slight loss for words.

"Oh," I said. "Um, how long was I out?"

"An hour or two. Johns has a pretty nice bruised cheek," he replied, cocking his head, staring at me. "You let your anger control you."

I snarled, though it was directed more at myself than at Riddick.

"I know. I can't believe I lost control like that." By now I was pretty much talking to myself. "The bastard's just so fucking _irritating_..."

I sighed and tried to get my footing so I could at least find a comfortable position for the both of us. As it was, I was pretty damn aware of the _exact_ place I was sitting on Riddick and didn't want to look like some cheap whore, so I attempted to move back towards his knees as much as I could.

Until, of course, Riddick spread his legs so I lost my footing and I had to wrap my legs around his to keep from straining my chained arms. The muscles worked in his own arms as he spread them further, causing the chains to bring me closer. I slid back up his lap and swallowed as our faces became mere inches apart.

"Are you afraid of me, Eris?" Riddick growled quietly, his shined eyes boring into mine.

"No," I answered softly. "Should I be?"

He smirked. "Yes."

That was all the warning I got before his lips crashed onto mine. He scraped my lower lip with his teeth, his tongue seeking, no _demanding_ entrance. I willingly complied and moaned as he explored my mouth with his tongue. _Damn, he's good_, I thought as I ground against his crotch, smiling when Riddick growled and bit my lower lip once more.

I gave a mew of protest when his lips left mine, then moaned again when he trailed kissed along my jaw and neck, nipping occasionally on the way. I tilted my head back to give him more access, sighing in pleasure.

He located my pulse and bit hard enough to make me wince, but not hard enough to draw blood. I knew it would bruise later, but I frankly didn't give a shit. Here I was, chained up and kissing Richard B. Riddick, and I was having the time of my life. Kinky sounding, no?

Riddick stopped and I looked at him, licking my swollen lips, my chest heaving. His eyes were no longer bright, but were dark, almost black, with lust. I figured my eyes said the same thing, so...why did he stop?

"Carolyn," he said, his gravelly voice a little rougher than usual. "Lay low. When the time comes, wrap your legs around my waist."

I raised an eyebrow but did as he requested, resting my head in the crook of his neck. I grinned impishly and even as I heard Carolyn's footsteps, I bit Riddick's neck and sucked a little bit before withdrawing my mouth. _A hickey for a hickey_, I thought as the convict shivered almost imperceptibly.

I closed my eyes and pretended to still be knocked out as Carolyn stopped in front of us.

"So where's the body?" she demanded.

Riddick remained silent.

"Well, do you want to tell me about the sounds?" she tried again. "Look, you told Johns you heard something."

I furrowed my brow. Sounds?

"That's fine." Carolyn was starting to sound frustrated. "You don't want to talk to me, that's your choice. But, just so you know...there's a debate right now as to whether we should just leave to here to die. Eris too. Johns isn't happy about his bruised cheek."

I had to stifle a chuckle and grinned into Riddick's neck. I couldn't wait to see this bruise for myself.

I heard Carolyn take a few steps, it sounded like she was leaving, before Riddick finally answered her.

"You mean the whispers?" he said softly. I heard Carolyn stop.

"What whispers?" she asked, an undercurrent of fear in her voice.

"The ones telling me to go for the sweet spot just to the left of the spine. Fourth lumbar down. The abdominal aorta." I shivered as Riddick spoke, half from apprehension, the other half from excitement. He really needed to stop doing that, because it was seriously starting to turn me on. "It's a metallic taste, human blood. Copperish. If you cut it with peppermint schnapps, that goes--"

"Do you want to shock me with the truth now?" Carolyn snapped, disgusted.

"All you people are so scared of me," Riddick said, amused. "Most days, I take that as a compliment. But it ain't me you gotta worry about now."

"Show me your eyes," Carolyn asked. I figured Riddick had closed his eyes once she came in and had been talking to her with them closed the whole time. I almost rolled my own at the utter randomness of the request.

"You'd have to come a lot closer for that," he replied.

I heard Carolyn slowly step closer and felt Riddick's muscles tense. It was time.

"Closer."

I wrapped my legs around his waist as he sprung up to stand in front of a shocked Carolyn. I discreetly tried to move my chains and inwardly cursed. This man was fucking strong to be stretching the chain so far, and with both of our weight, too.

"Where the hell can I get eyes like that?"

I lifted my head when I heard Jack's voice, ignoring Carolyn's surprised expression at seeing me awake.

"Gotta kill a few people," Riddick said, smirking.

"O.K. I can do it," Jack replied eagerly.

"Then you gotta get sent to a slam where they say you'll never see daylight again." I listened with rapt attention as he told how he got those beautiful eyes. "You dig up a doctor and you pay him 20 menthol Kools...to do a surgical shine job on your eyeballs."

I winced and made a face. I like my eyeballs the way they are, thanks very much, but that didn't deter Jack at all.

"So you can see who's sneaking up on you in the dark?"

"Exactly," Riddick said, with a true smile. _He has a nice smile,_ I mused as I studied him, his eyes meeting mine before Carolyn spoke.

"Leave!" she snapped at Jack. He glared at her, but gave Riddick and I a smile before he scurried away.

"Cute kid," Riddick remarked casually, sitting back down, as if we were talking about something as trite as the weather. "Did I kill a few people? Sure. Did I kill Zeke? No. You got the wrong killer."

"He's not in the hole," Carolyn said, exasperated. "We looked."

"Look deeper," he replied. "They're hollow."

Carolyn stood there for a few seconds before she got a determined look on her face and left.

"She's gonna go look," I stated. "Riddick, what's out there?"

He looked at me, a serious expression on his face.

"Something bad. Maybe worse than me."

I didn't answer and shivered again, this time from total apprehension. If Riddick said it was bad, then it had to be bad.

_Not scared, not scared, not scared,_ I chanted silently in my head. Wasn't really working.

"Come 'ere."

Riddick nudged his head against mine and guided it back to his neck. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and closed me eyes. My head was starting to throb again and I felt a little sleepy.

"Why are you here, Eris?" Riddick asked. "What made you take the _Gratzner_?" 

"It was cheap," I said, stifling a yawn. The man was silent, waiting for me to continue. "My parents were murdered. I'm trying to find whoever killed them."

There, it was out. It felt a little better, sharing it with someone. But not enough to take the pain away.

"Ah," was all he said. I wasn't offended. I didn't like hearing other people's shitty sob stories, and I highly doubted he wanted to hear mine.

"How long you been looking?"

"A year."

He grunted and we fell into silence. I closed my eyes, willing the memories away. Instead, I concentrated on Riddick's hypnotic, rhythmic breathing. In a few minutes, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

I awoke with a start as footsteps pounded towards us. A harried Johns came into view a few seconds later, a multi-colored bruise on his right cheek. I grinned in satisfaction at my wonderful artwork. 

"Finally found something worse than me?" Riddick drawled.

"So here's the deal," Johns said, ignoring his comment. "You work without chains, without bit, and without shivs. You do what I say, when I say it."

"For what?" Riddick returned. "The honor of going back to some asshole of a cell? Fuck you."

Johns sighed. "The truth is...I'm tired of chasing you."

"Are you saying you'd cut me loose?" Riddick asked skeptically.

"I'm thinking you could have died in the crash," Johns replied.

"Me recommendation: Do me," Riddick growled. "Don't take the chance that I'll get shiv-happy on your wanna-be ass."

I snorted at his description.

"Ghost me, motherfucker. That's what I would do to you."

I jumped in surprise when Johns pointed his shotgun at Riddick and pulled the trigger. Riddick dodged, his head bumping into mine in the process.

"Aw, shit," I moaned, wishing I could cradle my head in my hands. He had hit the spot right where Johns' gun had made its mark earlier. I was gonna need some serious help once all this crap was over with.

"I want you to remember this moment," Johns said, lowering his gun as the chains slithered through our metal bracelets to the floor. Hey, freedom! "The way it could've gone and didn't."

Riddick rose slowly, steadying me while I slid off his lap and shakily stood beside him. Johns produced his goggles and held them out.

"Here."

In a flash, Riddick had grabbed his goggles, as well as Johns' shotgun, which was now trained on the man himself.

"Take it easy," Johns said, hands raised, eyes wide.

"Fuck you!" Riddick roared, pointing it closer to the merc's face.

"Do we have a deal?" Johns asked cautiously. Riddick remained motionless, eyes burning angrily. I thought he might actually kill the man, not that _I _cared, but everyone else would and that could possibly kill our chances of staying alive.

"'I want you to remember this moment,'" Riddick finally threw back, tossing the gun to the ground. He snapped his goggles on and grabbed me behind my neck, pushing me in front of him.

"Bye Johns!" I sing-songed as we headed towards the exit. "Nice bruise by the way."

Riddick had let go of my neck and at my parting words to Johns, slapped my ass.

"Play nice," he smirked as the merc gave a frustrated snarl behind us.

"Never," I smirked back.

Having Riddick around was turning out to be _very_ entertaining, in more ways than one.


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Another chappie, sorry it's so short. The next one will be longer and better, I promise. Remember, read and review! Now, on to shout outs...**

**Raging Raven:** Thanks very much, glad you like it.

**Hotredhead:** Hahah I know Johns is...he always annoyed me. :-p

**Amora M.:** Thanks, here's another update for you.

**Honey76:** I LOVED writing the last chapter...it was so much fun. Glad you liked it as well. :)

**NotAfraidToLive: **Another one for you and the next in a day or two! Enjoy!

**Aragornsgirl:** Glad you like it! I love Eris as a character...her and Riddick get along so well. :D

**Dragonmamma:** Here's an update, hope you like it. Thanks for reviewing!

**LiasonFan2:** Aww, thank you. Hope you enjoy the chapter, though the next one will be MUCH better. I'm almost finished with it now so I'll post it in a day or two.

**Chapter 6**

We stepped outside and I sucked in some air, stretching my back. God it felt good to stand up straight.

"Eris!"

I was nearly bowled over by Jack as the kid rushed up and threw his arms around my waist in a hug. I looked over at Riddick for some form of help, only to find that he had disappeared.

"Um, hey," I said, awkwardly patting the kid on his back. He sure was affectionate for a boy, but you know, to each his own.

Jack beamed up at me and let go of my waist. "We've been working on getting stuff ready to go to the settlement."

"What settlement?" I asked, confused. Had they found people on this fucked up planet? And speaking of fucked up, the blue sun was setting as the other two were rising. Did they barely have 'nights' or something?

"Carolyn, Johns, and Imam found an abandoned settlement," the kid explained as we walked towards the others who were scurrying around like ants. They had taken the metal sled Zeke used to carry the bodies and were busy loading it up with personal items, weapons, and anything else they thought they'd need.

"Wanna help me get my stuff?" I asked Jack. When he nodded, we went into the cargo hold, passing Shazza along the way. The kid went ahead while Shazza and I stopped, staring at each other. After a beat she nodded her head and went outside.

I shook my head and followed the kid into my container.

"Are we taking both of them?" Jack asked me, looking at my two bags.

"Weapons bag, check," I said. "Clothes bag, double check."

I picked up the heavier bag that had my weapons in it while Jack picked up the one with my clothes.

"Is this all you have?" Jack asked incredulously.

I raised an eyebrow. "I bet you only have a backpack."

"Well, yeah," he admitted. "But you're older."

"I like to travel light," I said, giving him a shrug.

We went back outside and threw the bags on the sled. One of Imam's boys came up behind us, throwing a small pack on. Wow, talk about economy size.

"Who's gonna be dragging this thing?" I asked, eying the load. Especially when Paris came up and dumped some more of his shit on top of the pile.

"Riddick is."

I turned to see Johns coming towards us, Riddick walking behind him, goggles firmly in place. Johns' gait was a cocky swagger while Riddick's was more like a big cat's...graceful and deadly. Amazing for his large frame.

"He's going to drag this thing all the way to the settlement?" I asked at Johns, staring at him in disbelief. I wasn't doubting Riddick's strength at all, it just seemed so inhumane.

"Don't give me shit girlie," Johns warned, pointing a finger at me. "Or you'll be pulling too."

I bit down on my lip to keep from saying anything, settling on glaring daggers at the back of his head, my arms crossed. Riddick moved past me, a hand purposely brushing against my side. I felt a corner of my mouth lift before a heard a throat clear.

I looked over to see Jack staring at me, a smug grin on his face.

"What?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes.

"Nothing," he said, raising his hands in surrender. "Nothing."

"Whatever," I mumbled. I uncrossed my arms and stomped back towards the cargo hold, passing a surprised Imam on the way. He saw where I had come from and gave a knowing sigh.

I ignored him as I barged into Paris' container and went straight to the alcohol. Bottles clattered as I searched for something good, since the Belvedere was all the vodka he had and I already finished it.

"Aha!"

I pulled out a bottle full of light brown liquid. Rum. Almost as good as vodka. I uncorked it and took a swig. Ooh, vanilla rum. Even better.

"Eris?" Jack shouted.

"Yeah?" I shouted back.

"We're leaving."

I exited the container and joined the others around the sled. Riddick stood in front of it, a metal cord like the one that we had been chained to, flung over his shoulder.

Shazza handed me a breather and I strapped it on with a quick thanks, taking a quick hit of fresh oxygen. Paris laid eyes on the bottle of rum in my hand and opened his mouth to comment, but obviously thought better of it when I glared at him.

"So, you click your fingers and he's one of us now," Paris said to Johns.

"I didn't say that," Johns replied, giving the bespectacled man a look. "At least this way I don't have to worry about you all falling asleep...and not waking up."

Paris swallowed uneasily and let it drop.

"So, can I talk to him now?" Jack piped up.

"No," Shazza and Johns said simultaneously.

"Alright, it's not far," Carolyn interrupted. A power cell was sitting on the ground between her and Imam. "Let's head out."

Her and Imam started dragging the power cell, Johns leading the way, Shazza beside him. Imam's boys followed behind their teacher, Jack tagging along with them. Paris was next, then me, Riddick bringing up the rear with his heavy load.

The two way up front seemed to have struck up a conversation, while Imam and Carolyn kept quiet to conserve their strength. All 4 boys were chatting it up, talking about who knows what. Paris, Riddick and I were silent.

I took a swig of rum and licked my lips in appreciation as I felt the familiar burn in my throat. We walked on, the two suns shining high in the sky. _I seriously need a bath_, I thought as sweat trickled from my hairline.

"Blast!"

I looked up when I heard Paris curse and stopped before I ran into him. He had dropped his wine bottle at my feet, and turned, bending to pick it up. I moved aside and flinched in surprise when Riddick came up behind me, stooping to pick up the bottle as well.

Paris froze and let Riddick pick it up, then straightened and gave a nervous smile.

"Paris P. Ogilvie," he introduced, holding out his hand. "Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur."

Riddick dropped the cord and shook his hand.

"Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict...murderer."

I chuckled as Paris noticeably swallowed.

"Since we're going around introducing ourselves, allow me," I said with a flourish. "Eris T. Rivers. Weapons collector and all around bitch."

Riddick smirked while Paris just nodded. Agreement at me being a bitch or just nodding in general, I didn't know or care.

"That's a good Shiraz," Paris said. "It's a lovely drop."

Riddick gave him a look and uncorked the bottle.

"It's very expensive," he tried, once he realized what Riddick was about to do.

He stared in dismay as the man guzzled the rest of the wine without coming up for air.

"By all means, please. Help yourself," he said weakly, turning to catch up with the others, leaving me alone with Riddick.

He threw the empty bottle onto the sand and picked up the chain to the sled once more. I took a sip of my rum and looked up at him. With his goggles on, I couldn't tell whether or not he was looking at me or something else.

"Here," I said, unhooking my breather and handing Riddick the mouthpiece. He stopped and took a few hits, nodding his thanks.

I put it back on and we continued on in a comfortable silence until Jack dropped back to walk with us.

"So what's the 'T' stand for?" he said suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, not sure what he was referring to.

"I overheard you talking to Paris," he explained. "What's the 'T' stand for?"

"Oh, that," I realized. "Titania."

"You have some weird names, Eris," Jack grinned.

"Me?" I mockingly gasped. "What about you, _Jack B. Badd_?"

Jack looked sheepish as Riddick let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," the kid muttered. "Do they mean anything?"

My steps faltered for a second before I got myself back together.

"Yes," I sighed. I took a large gulp of rum before continuing. "According to the Greeks, Eris was the goddess of Chaos, while Titania was the Queen of the Faeries."

"Cool!"

"Mmhm, very," I said honestly. I loved my names and wouldn't trade them for anything. Besides, they were pretty much all I had left of my parents.

"Hey look, we're coming through the canyon."

I looked up at Jack's declaration and realized he was right; we had entered a canyon and were already almost halfway through.

"Wow," I breathed as I craned my neck to stare up at the spires high above us. "Wicked."

Riddick just grunted, as usual. I swear, did that man _ever_ say anything without someone else starting the conversation?

"Want some more air?" I asked him, holding up my mouthpiece. When he nodded, I lifted it to his mouth, our strides matching and even. Though I couldn't see his eyes, I felt him staring at me through his black goggles with such intensity, I felt my body temperature go up a few notches and it wasn't from the sun either.

Riddick and I swung our heads around when we heard kissy noises and found Jack grinning and making faces at us.

"You better run..._now_," I threatened. Jack's eyes widened comically before he did an about-face and ran to rejoin the boys ahead of us.

I was shocked when Riddick actually laughed and stared at him in wonder. I wasn't the only one; I noticed that almost everyone ahead of us had turned when he laughed and had surprised looks on their faces.

"Holy shit, you actually laughed," I said sarcastically.

Riddick drew closer, causing my breath to hitch in my throat.

"You'd be surprised at what else I can do," he murmured as he brushed ahead of me.

I stood there, mouth hanging open and just about stomped my foot in frustration as I felt the familiar heat pooling in my stomach. God, I _hated_ being teased.

"You comin'?" Riddick called over his shoulder.

"Yes," I ground out, then started muttering under my breath. "Fucking with me...goddamn bastard..."

I trailed behind Riddick, almost childishly refusing to acknowledge his presence. Thankfully, he kept his mouth shut. I stared at the back of bald head with narrowed eyes as I drank more rum.

Fucker.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: O.K., here's the longer, better update I promised everyone. Hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who reviews and put me on their alerts/favorites list, I really appreciate it. Mucho thanksies! Remember, R&R!**

**Dragonmamma: Thanks! I'm trying to make Eris human, yet also be tough enough to catch Riddick's interest. **

**LiasonFan2: Wow, thanks! I feel very honored. :) And yes, Jack will be a girl. I'm trying to have Eris think, "How did I miss that fact when all the signs were there?" when she finds out.**

**Raging Ravens: Thank you very much! ;)**

**Chapter 7**

I lost track of how long we had been walking and I was down to half a bottle of rum, which was _not_ good considering the fact that Paris had left the alcohol back in his container.

"There it is!"

I looked up at Shazza's shout and saw that we made it.

"Finally," I muttered, wiping sweat off my face with my shirt, not caring that I just flashed my red lace bra to the world. I didn't think anyone saw anyway, so what did it matter?

We entered the settlement, Johns leading us towards the centered where a ratty-ass skiff was sitting, obviously abandoned.

"Geez," I said as I looked around. "What happened here?"

"We don't know," Carolyn said, coming out of the skiff, without the power cell. Imam followed behind as they stepped off the ramp.

"Johns, Shazza, I need you to come look in here," she said, heading back up the ramp. Johns and Shazza followed, leaving the rest of us standing there, staring at the shitty skiff. Paris and Imam moved off towards a large building a few feet away, talking animatedly.

Where were the kiddos and, more importantly, Riddick? After wandering around a bit, I finally found them soaking wet, kneeling by a solar-powered water pump.

"Water!" I cheered. "Hallelujah! Time to scram, kiddos."

They all laughed at me and moved away towards the abandoned buildings, leaving me to my absolutely_ wonderful_ water. Setting my rum and breather to the side, I crouched and cranked the handle, drinking thirstily, the water sliding smoothly down my throat.

Once I had satisfied my thirst, I ducked my head under, getting my hair wet and washing the sweat, grime, and blood off my head, neck, and face. God, it felt so good to be semi-clean that I almost groaned in pleasure.

I rinsed the dirt from my arms then gently splashed the cut on my stomach, the dried blood disappearing as it was cleaned. In the distance, I heard the sound of the boys' laughter and smiled. Things were definitely starting to look up.

"Are you having fun?"

I shrieked in surprise and fell flat on my ass.

"Johns! Don't do that," I growled, picking myself up and brushing the sand off my leather pants. "What do you need?"

He smirked and looked me up and down. _What the hell is he looking at?_ I thought, then inwardly grimaced. Water...plus my white tank top...shit, that equals see-through shirt. I deliberately crossed my arms over my chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know where Riddick is?" he asked finally, raising his eyes to meet mine.

"Oh, did you lose him already?" I taunted, rolling my eyes.

Johns' smirk disappeared and was replaced with a frown.

"Where is he, Eris?" he said, a clear warning in his voice.

"Chill," I retorted, uncrossing my arms so I could pick up my breather and rum bottle. "I haven't seen him since we got here."

"Well, in that case," he replied, grasping my upper arm in a tight grip, "You can help me find him."

"Johns, you better let me go," I said through gritted teeth, trying to wrench my arm away.

The merc only grabbed me tighter, dragging me along with him. I decided it would be wiser to just go along than try to fight. God knows I already had enough scrapes and bruises, no need to add any more to my collection.

As we walked through the settlement, I tried to figure out the whole Johns issue. He had shown interest in me (and I had brushed him off, of course) when we first boarded the ship and when we crashed. Then I hit him while defending Riddick and he obviously had second thoughts, so what brought on this...possessiveness?

My free hand came up to touch my neck where Riddick had left his mark from earlier. The only thing I could think of was the fact that Riddick had 'gotten' to me before he did._ Men,_ I thought with disgust. _Can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em._

We stumbled upon Riddick who was standing in front of a large, sealed up building. The words 'Coring Room' were written in block letters over the padlocked double doors.

"You're missing the party." Johns announced our arrival, though I was sure Riddick had heard us long before we got to him. "Come on, boy."

Riddick turned, taking one last look at the coring room. I wondered what had captured his interest and decided to ask him about it later.

"Alright, we found him Johns," I said, glaring at the man. "You can let me go now."

In my peripheral vision I saw Riddick's head snap towards us before he moved forward.

"You're right," he agreed suddenly, a smile on his face. He let go of my arm as if he had been burned and stepped a few paces back. I felt another presence beside me and looked up to see Riddick staring stonily at Johns. So that's why he let go. "Come on you two."

He took off in the direction of the skiff, leaving Riddick and I in silence. I heard a noise behind us and turned to see a familiar head duck out of sight on the roof of the coring room.

"Jack," I called. His head peeked back over and he gave me an impish grin. I shook my head and gave an exasperated sigh when I saw his new hair cut and the makeshift goggles covering his eyes. "Cute."

"Missing the party," Riddick said, repeating Johns' words from earlier. "Come on."

"Here," I said to the big man, handing him my breather. "I don't need it anymore. Put it to good use."

I gave him a smirk as he took it off my outstretched hand, strapping it on. He took a few hits before we moved off. I heard a _thud_ a few seconds later. There were hurried footsteps before Jack wiggled between Riddick and I, grinning at both of us.

"Isn't this place cool?" he asked.

Looking around at all the empty houses and buildings, I felt a sense of foreboding. There was something very wrong with this place.

"No," I disagreed softly. "I don't like it."

I felt Riddick's stare and spared him a glance over Jack's head. He gave a nod and I knew he felt it too, whatever IT was.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, confused. "It looks just fine."

"Forget it," I said as we neared the main building by the skiff. Johns beckoned to us before disappearing inside. "I'll tell you later."

The kid just shrugged as we entered the building to find everyone else already gathered there, sitting in chairs scattered around the room. Imam had produced cups from somewhere and was busy pouring water into them.

"All praises be to Allah, for his many blessings to us," he was saying, handing me one when I came in. He handed another one to Riddick, except it was murky with sediment.

"What?" Jack asked when he noticed Paris staring at him oddly.

"It's the winner of the look-alike contest," Paris remarked, receiving nods of agreement from the others. I thought it was cute that Jack looked up to Riddick enough to cut his hair and wear goggles. If anything, I could tease the man about it later. "Who were these people, anyway? Miners?"

"Looks like geologists," Shazza spoke up. "An advance team, moves from rock to rock."

"Nice of them to leave so much stuff here," Johns joked.

"Why did they leave their ship?" Jack asked, sitting on a couch by the wall.

Everyone looked at each other, at a loss. That was one question nobody knew the answer to.

While everyone was talking I took a sip of my water then discreetly slid it behind my back, handing it to Riddick. I'd much rather have my rum. There was a pause before I felt the cup leave my hand and I inwardly smiled.

"It's not a ship," Johns stated. "It's a skiff and it's disposable."

"It's more like an emergency life-raft, right?" Paris asked, looking at the merc for confirmation.

"Sure," Shazza answered before Johns could. "They probably had a big drop ship take them off planet."

I gave her a skeptical look.

"These people didn't leave," Riddick announced, his body so close to mine I could almost feel the rumbling in his chest when he spoke. "Come on. Whoever got Zeke got them. They're all dead."

There was a large pause as everyone came to terms with what he just said.

"You don't really think they left with their clothes on hooks," he continued with a snort of amusement and a smirk. "Photos on the shelves."

"Maybe they had weight limits," Shazza suggested.

"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless there's an emergency," Riddick returned.

"He's fuckin' right," Jack said strongly, leaning forward.

"Watch your mouth," Shazza snapped.

"I agree with Riddick," I said, voicing my opinion. "Something happened to them."

"He's just saying what we're all thinking," Carolyn finally spoke. Then to Riddick, "So what happened? Where are they?"

Imam started and I followed his line of sight to the one full glass. Oh no...

"Has anyone seen the little one?" He asked frantically. "Ali?"

We all shook our heads.

"Has anyone checked the coring room?" Riddick said lowly. I jumped in surprise when a spine-chilling scream ripped through the silence. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as we all rushed outside, running towards the coring room.

We reached the doors and stopped, hesitant.

"Slowly," Johns cautioned, stepping forward. With a swift blow from the butt of his shotgun, he broke the chain off the double doors and thrust them open, gun ready. When nothing came out, Jack rushed into the darkness.

"Jack, wait!" I shouted, quickly following, hand resting on my knife, just in case.

I heard the other stop behind me as we all stared at the room, no sign of Ali. In fact, there was no sign of anything. Nothing.

"Ali?" Imam whispered in the stillness.

The room was large and circular with a large coring shaft in the middle of the room. Rafter soared high, the room in darkness except for some sunlight that filtered through the dusty windows.

"My God," I breathed, looking around the room. Jack slowly back up until he bumped into me, a scared look on his face. I slung a reassuring arm around his shoulders, my other hand still resting on my knife handle, just in case.

"Ali?" Imam tried again, and again, nothing.

"Where could he be?" Shazza asked, eying all the windows.

I felt a breath on the back of my neck and turned slightly to see Riddick standing behind me. Even though I wouldn't say it aloud, it felt good to have his solid strength behind me. I turned back around as we all heard a creak from the supply doors on the right.

I swallowed and pushed down my sense of dread as Imam crept forward, hand outstretched. He slowly opened the door, then jumped back as these bat-like creatures poured out, shrieking as they circled the room.

Everyone automatically ducked as they passed overhead, Jack cowering against me. I felt Riddick hook his finger into the back of my pants as he drew me up again his chest as if to protect me. I almost smiled despite the situation. Seemed like the Big Bad wasn't as bad as he thought.

The creatures soared up in the rafter then plunged straight down into the coring shaft, their squeals and shrieks slowly fading away. There was a sort of shocked silence before something fell out of the now empty supply room.

A body.

I had to turn my head away, having difficulty swallowing the bile that rose in my throat at the sight. It wasn't Ali's dead body that bothered me, it was the fact that he had been shredded into bloody kite-tails. The poor kid had obviously run inside, hoping to wait the creatures out, but didn't know that they had another nest in there until it was too late.

I thought back to the bone-chilling scream we had heard and shivered. Riddick was positioned so that no one could see when he ran a large hand along my hair in an almost gentle caress, his fingertips brushing against my cheek. I unconsciously leaned into his touch and wished we were in different circumstances. But then again, would he have noticed me in different circumstances?

At that, I snapped out of my shocked state and straightened, drawing in a breath of air. If I wanted to get through this, I needed to stay strong. And there was no way in hell I was going to let those...things...get me. _Or Jack_, I thought as I looked down at the kid who had a stricken expression on his face. I didn't care for anyone or anything, except revenge since my parents' death, but this kid had been growing on me since our time here.

Imam wailed as he kneeled by the body of his student, the other kids having run outside at the sight of their friend. I let go of Jack and stepped towards the coring shaft, gingerly looking over the edge. Carolyn, Shazza, and Johns followed.

The merc lit a flare and tossed it into the shaft, all of us leaning over as the green flame hit the bottom.

"Shit," I breathed, my eyes widening.

Bones littered the bottom of the shaft: Human bones. In the flares light I saw that they were obviously the former settler's bones and they were picked clean. Damn.

"Other buildings weren't secure," Riddick said, joining us at the edge. "So they ran here. Heaviest doors."

He jumped down into the beginning of the shaft, crouching on a ledge as he stared into the darkness. "Thought they'd be safe inside. But they forgot to lock the cellar."

"Whatever those things are, they seem to stick to the darkness," Johns said, after a beat. Riddick climbed out of the shaft as the rest of us looked at the merc. "So if we stick to daylight we should be O.K."

"Let's go," Shazza said, letting go of the chain she had been leaning on. I noticed that Imam had disappeared with Ali's body. Jack had left too.

"Twenty-two years ago," Carolyn said suddenly.

"What?" Johns asked.

Carolyn walked over to a counter where vials were strewn about and scrutinized them carefully. Only now did I notice them.

"These coring samples are dated," she mused, leaning over to get a good look at one. "Last one's twenty-two years ago this month."

"Is there something special about that?" Shazza asked curiously, moving towards the counter.

"I don't know," Carolyn replied. She sounded frustrated. "There could be..."

She straightened with a sharp intake of breath. I shared a puzzled glance with Shazza as Carolyn turned around, her eyes wide.

"Come here," was all she said before rushing out of the room. With a shrug, the four of us followed her to a building a few feet away, Riddick and I bringing up the rear as usual. I saw Imam, Jack, Paris and the three remaining students by a freshly dug grave and sighed.

We entered the darkened room that seemed to be someone's old living quarters and watched as Carolyn kneeled by an orrery. She opened the drive box and started turning the main gear, accelerating the orbits. The year counter began clicking, the orrery turning for each year that went by.

It slowed as it got closer. 19...20...21...22. I sucked in a breath as we all saw it: A giant ringed world eclipses the suns and plunges our planet into darkness. Persistent darkness.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered as I realized the implication of complete darkness.

"An eclipse," Shazza whispered, eyes wide.

"Not afraid of the dark, are you?" Riddick asked with a smirk. We all glared at him.

"We've got a lot to do," Carolyn said as she stood up.

Her and Shazza headed for the door talking about a sand-cat they could possibly use while Johns followed, a stunned expression on his face, leaving Riddick and I alone. I moved towards the orrery, gently touching one of the planets. It all seemed so surreal. And what had Johns said about those creatures liking the dark?

I was so lost in thought that I didn't hear Riddick come up behind me until I found myself pressed up against his length, one arm around my waist, the other around my neck. I panicked for a moment, struggling to get free.

"Shh," Riddick whispered as if he was speaking to some skittish animal.

I stilled, then sagged against him and tilted my head up so I could see his face. The tiny light from the orrery reflected on his goggles and I had a sudden urge to see his eyes.

"Take your goggles off," I asked softly. His lips curled up for a second before he complied, turning slightly so his eyes wouldn't be in the direct line of light.

I turned in his arms so I was facing him and placed my hands on his well muscled chest, standing on tiptoe so I could reach his lips. I paused, our faces mere inches apart, not really sure of what I was doing. Riddick had instigated our kiss the last time and I wasn't sure how he'd react if I did it now.

Oh, to hell with it, I thought as I pressed my lips to his. To my pleasure, I felt him kissing me back, our teeth gnashing as we both fought for dominance. After a few seconds, Riddick's tongue invaded my mouth and I knew I had lost the match. Oh well, not such a bad thing, hm?

He drew me even closer, our bodies lined up perfectly. I could feel his hardness and moaned as we ground against each other, Riddick's hand twisted in my hair. I ran my hands along his chest, trying to feel as much of him as I could.

"Ahem."

I jerked away from Riddick who kept his hand entwined in my hair to see a red-faced Paris standing in the doorway, eyes averted.

"There better be a good reason for this," Riddick growled at the man, who swallowed nervously.

"Uh, Johns said, and I directly quote, 'Your missing the party'," Paris said, backing towards the door.

"Is that all?" I asked in disappointment, reluctantly untangling myself from Riddick's arms.

"Y-yes," Paris stammered. "And he said come now."

With that the man disappeared.

"He has the worst timing in the world," I muttered. "Riddick, let go of my hair please."

Riddick pulled my head towards him and kissed me soundly before letting go of my hair. I licked my lips and gave him a smile.

"May as well see what the fucker wants," I sighed, putting my hair into a pony-tail with a strip of leather I had wrapped around my wrist.

I started towards the door when Riddick grabbed my wrist, spinning me around.

"Red lace looks good on you," he whispered in my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

"Were you spying on me Riddick?" I teased, cupping his chin in my hand. His lips curled into a smirk.

"Maybe."

I leaned up against him on tip-toe and whispered seductively in his ear, "Well maybe you'll get to see it again."

I dropped back to the floor and sauntered outside, making sure I had an extra sway to my hips. I heard Riddick growl behind me and grinned.

Maybe we would get through this after all.


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews and alerts guys! Made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. lol Here's another chapter for y'all, hope you like it. Can you believe it, we're almost done with the story! Just a few more chapters to go before it ends. There will be a sequel eventually, but I think I'll start something new in the meantime. Check my poll and vote on which fic I should start next. Oh, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to update next...dad wants me to get a job by Friday, so I may not have a lot of time to write. I shall do my best to update ASAP. **

**Shout Outs!**

**NotAfraidToLive:** Uh-oh, lights went out...what next:)

**Honey76:** Thank you so much. I always love reading your reviews. Some stuff between Eris and Riddick, but on a slightly deeper level.

**Dragonmamma:** Thanks! I've only seen the movie once, so I've been working with a movie transcript, the 1998 movie script, my memory, and some movie screencaps. Gotta love it.

**LiasonFan2:** Oh don't worry...we'll have a little Johns/Riddick face off in the next chapter or two. And Eris is partially to blame, so we'll see how that one plays out. Thanks for reviewing!

**Aragornsgirll:** I tried to make this chapter longer than the usual ones, so I hope you like it. Plus, there's some more flirting between the Big Bad and Eris. ;)

**Raging Raven:** My thoughts exactly! lol

**Untouchable1400:** Hey, a new reviewer! Mucho thanks for the review, glad you like it. Here's a new update, enjoy!

**Chapter 8**

Stepping outside, my eyes immediately searched for Johns. Ah, there. He was following Carolyn up the ramp into the skiff, a serious expression on his face. Wonder what he's gonna tell her.

"Come on," Riddick said, nudging me towards the skiff. He moved ahead and I trailed after him, trying to see where everyone else had run off to. Oh, there they were.

Shazza and Imam were busy working on the sand cat, Paris hovering around with a look of consternation. I laughed when I realized that he didn't know what to do and, judging by the annoyed glances Shazza kept sending him, he was starting to get on her nerves.

Jack and Imam's two remaining students were busy filling up two large jugs of water at the pump, looks of hard concentration on their faces. _Good,_ I thought as Riddick stopped on the other side of the skiff. _They need some form of distraction. I wonder if they even know...Nah, no need to scare them anymore. Yet._

I was pulled from my thoughts by a scraping sound and found Riddick sitting on an overturned metal bucket, shiv in hand.

"Very nice shiv," I commented, sitting on the ground beside him. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Mmhm," he answered, dipping his hand into a small can beside him. He pulled his hand back out, a glob of gross-looking brown...stuff in his palm.

"Ew, what is that?" I asked, gagging dramatically.

"You don't care about blood," Riddick said thoughtfully, spreading it all over his head. "But you have trouble with grease?"

I thought for a second before answering. "Yep."

Riddick shook his head before expertly running the razor sharp shiv over his scalp in a pseudo trim. I heard voices in the skiff and leaned closer, trying to hear what they were saying. My eyes widened as I heard the whole conversation between Johns and Carolyn. Riddick certainly was a man of many talents.

By the smirk on his face, I knew he had heard as well.

"Well, Big Bad, you certainly have some skills," I teased, standing up. I was starting to get restless and seeing Riddick just sit there and shave his head wasn't helping me any. I paced in front of him, trying to formulate some sort of plan in case anything went wrong.

Oh fuck, who was I kidding? It was a given that things were about to horribly wrong and here I was being all optimistic and shit. I was starting to sound like Carlyn for God's sakes. I almost laughed out loud at that one.

"I WILL leave you here."

I stopped pacing when Riddick spoke and turned to face him. I stared at him, positive he was telling the truth. No matter how much chemistry we had, out here, it was every man for himself. Especially in the end.

"I know," I answered, tucking a stray hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my ear.

"If you keep up, I won't have to leave you," Riddick continued.

It was his own way of extending an invitation and I immediately pounced on it, feeling a bit pleased that he was willing to give me a chance.

"There's no way in hell I'm getting left behind," I said firmly, hands on my hips.

Riddick gave me one of his rare smiles. "Good."

Grinning, I leaned up against the skiff, one knee bent behind me, braced against the metal for support. I produced one of my throwing stars seemingly out of thin air and idly twirled it between my fingers, deep in thought. Again. _I'm well on my way to becoming a fucking philosopher_, I thought, chuckling to myself.

I quickly reviewed the plan: Stay alive and do whatever it takes to keep up with Riddick. O.K. Got that one covered. I moved on to what I was going to do when we finally made it out of here. I'd gotten a tip that the assassin who killed my parents was last seen on New Mecca and had been on my way there when we crashed. I figured I'd just stick to that course unless some other information came my way that might cause me to change my mind.

I looked up when Johns walked down the ramp, leaning against the skiff when he reached the ground. He hadn't noticed us yet, a fact that I was very thankful for. I didn't need him ragging on me right now, or anytime in the near future for that matter.

Riddick turned his head slightly and I followed his line of sight just in time to see a flu-like shiver run throughout Johns' body.

"Bad sign," Riddick rumbled, running the shiv along his head in another neat row. "Shaking like that in this heat."

Johns straightened and deliberately brushed off Riddick's comment.

"I thought I said no shivs," he said pointedly.

"Shivs? This?" Riddick held up the shiv, the sharp blade flashing in the light. "This is just a personal grooming appliance."

Johns opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it when he shivered again. He gave our close positions an unreadable look before stalking off, slightly unsteady on his feet.

"He looks like he's having withdrawals," I murmured, staring at his retreating form. "But from what?"

"Morphine," Riddick stated, giving his head a once over with the blade. "Been on it for years. He needs his next hit. That's where he's goin' right now."

I thought back to the first time Johns had swayed, back in the cargo hold and covered it up with the bogus story of swamp-flu from the Congo. Even then I had my suspicions, suspicions that were now confirmed. His addiction had shed some light on why he had been acting weird the past few hours, but I still figured he was an asshole. Nothing could ever change that.

Riddick finished and stood, cracking his neck and stretching his back. I was once again in awe of the large man in front of me who had so much strength, he could snap me like a twig. The man who was a killer and a hard-ass. A man who did whatever he needed to do for survival, no matter what the cost. Life had not dealt him a kind hand. And yet, there were glimpses of the man who on rare occasion, showed small kindness and on even rarer occasion, tiny slivers of gentleness. I was truly honored to have been on the receiving end of the lesser-known side of the man called Richard B. Riddick.

"Are you finished staring?" Riddick questioned, amused. I started, then grinned mischievously.

"I wasn't staring, I was thinking. But...since you mentioned it, hold still for a few minutes while I take in all the deliciousness of the Big Bad."

He acquiesced as I eyed him up and down. The black tank that stretched across his large frame, skin bronzed by the sun. The rippling muscles that, honest to God, almost made me drool and I hadn't even seen him without his shirt off...yet. The strong, square jaw, extremely kissable lips and the shaved head. Damn, not to mention his eyes. This man practically exuded sexuality.

"Delicious," I remarked, nodding my head.

Riddick gazed at me, not moving as he took his look at me. My dark brown tresses, the tanned skin. 5"4 height, slim body. Toned stomach and arm muscles that I worked my ass off for. Wide hazel eyes, high cheekbones. I was pretty happy with my body, except for my smallish boobs and ass. But hey, that's what you get when your body is pretty much all muscle.

"You look sexier with your hair down," Riddick commented once he finished inspecting me.

"Oh. Thanks," I fumbled, not quite sure what to say to _that_ one.

"Eris!" I swiveled around to see Shazza waving at me, Imam nowhere in sight. "Lend a hand?"

"Sure!" I shouted, before turning back to Riddick. "Mind putting my bags aboard when you talk to Carolyn? Don't wanna lose all my weapons."

A slightly surprised expression crossed his face and disappeared in the same second before he nodded. That settled, I headed towards Shazza, rolling my eyes as I went. I wasn't stupid. It was Riddick's nature to scare, intimidate, and threaten people. Fantastic shock factor, I knew from experience, but I digress. Johns had just shared some rather shocking information with our pilot and I knew Riddick would take advantage of that fact.

I spared a glance behind me, smiling triumphantly when I saw Riddick walk up the ramp, head finally clear of that crap. _He must've gone to the pump_, I thought as I neared the sandcat. Squinting at the rising blue sun, it certainly didn't seem that we were on the edge of an eclipse. At least it wasn't here yet. Small comfort.

"What have we got?" I said, quickly re-hiding the Japanese star I had forgotten about.

"I'm tryin' to shove the lid back on but the damn thing won't snap," she explained, gesturing to the metal cap that covered the plethora of wires on the sandcat's hood.

"Where'd Imam and Paris go?" I asked as we both put our weight on it. She was right, this thing was being stubborn as hell.

"Paris disappeared once he knew manual labor was involved," she grunted, pushing down. "And Imam went to collect his boys. After we get this on, we're ready to go."

"Shit," I growled as we rested for a moment. "Let's try it on three. One...two...three!"

We put everything into our last shove, throwing all of our muscle and weight into it.

"Excellent," Shazza said as the lid snapped shut. "Thanks."

"Mmhm," I mumbled, staring off into the distance. I thought I had seen something moving, but figured it was nothing. Wait, there it was again. A black line stretched across the horizon. "Oh, fuck."

"What?" Shazza demanded. I pointed and she froze. We heard the exclamations of the others as they noticed the dark line as well.

The eclipse. It was here.

"Captain! Captain!" one of Imam's boys shouted.

Carolyn appeared a few seconds later, a pissed off look on her face.

"I'm not your fucking captain," she snapped. Johns followed behind a few seconds later, more steady now that he had his morphine.

We all stood there, staring up into the sky as the black arch grew from the horizon where the other two suns were rising. Seemingly hypnotized by the sight, we watched as the arch rose, inching towards the two suns.

"What do my eyes see?" Paris breathed.

"If we need anything from the crash ship, I suggest we kick on," Shazza said to Carolyn. "That sandcat's solar."

Those words seemed to spur us all into action. Shazza started cranking the sandcat while the rest of us grabbed water, ropes, and as many lights as we could find. Imam and his boys piled into the bed of sandcat, Shazza slipping into the drivers seat as the engine spluttered to life. Carolyn joined her up front while Johns, Paris, and Jack jumped into the back.

"Where's Riddick?" I voiced, clambering up beside Paris. The rest were sitting near the sides, while Paris and I stood holding on to the metal beam in front of us.

"Leave him!" Paris shouted. "He wouldn't wait for us!"

"We can't just leave!" I protested, even though I knew what Paris had said was true.

The sandcat jarred as Riddick jumped into the back out of nowhere, scaring the shit out of Paris.

"I thought we'd lost you," he said nervously as Riddick stared at him.

"Where are you going?" Carolyn asked as Johns suddenly jumped off.

"I'm gonna get some things," he quickly explained, already moving towards a building. "I'll be a few minutes. You wouldn't leave without me, would you?"

"Hurry up, Johns!"

"Just give me a minute!"

He took off towards the building he had went into early and disappeared. He came out a few seconds later, a bundle in his arms. Shazza got the sandcat moving as Johns jumped on the back, Riddick reeling him aboard.

"Shit," he gasped, sitting down.

"Don't wanna miss this," Riddick said.

"Look!" Jack shouted, pointing up at the sky.

We turned to see the rim of a giant planet cresting over the horizon. The luminous arch we had seen earlier was the planet's rings. _Oh my God_, I thought as we picked up more speed, heading into the canyon.

Riddick sat on the side pulling me down beside him, leaving Paris the only one standing.

"Duck," Riddick advised as we passed through a giant rib-cage. Paris ducked as a few low hanging bones hit the beam where his head had been just moments before.

Shazza hit the brake when we reached the crash ship, everyone leaping off the back.

"How many cells do we need?" I shouted as I helped Imam lash a scrap-metal sled to the back of the sandcat.

"Five" was the reply and I swore. Those things were heavy as fuck.

Riddick walked out with two cells on his shoulders as if they weighed nothing, dropping them onto the sled. Johns followed, staggering under the weight of just one. He dropped his load and hurried after Riddick. _Men_, I thought.

The light dimmed and I immediately looked up to see the rings of planet had already eclipsed the yellow sun. I paused and cocked my head. Yes. The change in light brought a growing high-pitched sound.

"Don't stop," Carolyn panted. "Don't stop."

I followed her into the ship and helped grab some more lights. We had passed Riddick and Johns on the way in, both men carrying the remaining power cells. I found a blowtorch and turned it on, satisfied when a flame blew out.

"Come on," I said, blowtorch in hand, along with a lamp I had found. Almost everything in the ship had been crushed during the landing. Carolyn nodded and followed me back outside, one lamp in her hand.

As we stepped up beside the others, the rings eclipsed the second sun, a second darkness sweeping over us. Noises came from the spires and in the deepening dusk, I saw something pouring from the tops. At first I thought it was just some smoke or ash, but when the 'cloud' started shrieking...

I swallowed when I realized it was the hatchlings from earlier, and not smoke.

"How many are there?" Johns gasped.

"Allah!"

I was standing beside Riddick and had to strain to hear when he spoke.

"Beautiful," he whispered, staring at the spires. I moved closer until our arms were almost touching, drawing strength from his presence.

The hatchlings kept coming, pouring out of the spires in thick, black waves. Mercifully, they seemed to be moving away...until one wave cleaved from the other and headed our way.

"People, just a suggestion," Paris called out fearfully, "Perhaps you should flee!"

"Cargo hold everyone!" Carolyn shouted as we all took off, leaving the sled where it sat. Johns, Carolyn and Imam paused to grab a few items off of it before hauling ass again.

"Let's go!"

"Hurry up!"

The others reached the cargo hold first, Shazza, Riddick and I still running.

"Shit!" I screamed as I heard the squealing wave right behind us.

Shazza hit the dirt directly in front of us while Riddick grabbed my arm and dragged me to the ground. We lay on our backs as the hatchlings flew above us, inches away from our bodies. I closed my eyes and breathed heavily, wishing this was all a bad dream. Sadly, it wasn't.

"Shazza! STAY DOWN!" Jack screamed.

I opened my eyes and tilted my head. Looking upside down, I saw Shazza's terrified face as she shot a glance at the cargo hold.

"No, don't," I whispered.

The hatchlings vanished and she paused before standing up. Too late.

"NO!" Carolyn shouted as the wave came back, enveloping the woman.

I closed my eyes to the horrifying sight of Shazza being torn apart and carried off, wishing I could plug my ears as I heard her pained screams ripping through the air. _Fuck._ I re-opened my eyes when I felt Riddick move and saw him turn his head left and right. Nothing.

He stood and brushed his hands off before hauling me to my feet, steadying me when I swayed.

"Remember," he warned, a hand on the small of my back as we moved at a leisure pace towards the cargo hold where the others were waiting.

"I'm fine," I said, then attempted to joke. "But I'm gonna need some serious help when all this shit is over with."

"Good girl."

We joined the others at the entrance, a strange clicking sound in the distance. Once they saw that we were unharmed, the others disappeared further into the hold, leaving Carolyn, Riddick and I to stare out at the deepening dusk. By now, it was almost completely dark.

I took a deep breath when we saw the spires crumbling. It was too dark for Carolyn and I to see anything coming out of them, but Riddick took his goggles off, staring at the world with his jaguar eyes. When a look of awe appeared on his face, I knew we were in some deep shit.

"What is it?" Carolyn asked softly, shaken by Shazza's death. "What is it now?"

Riddick took one last look before turning to us. "Like I said...it ain't me you gotta worry about."

With that he grabbed the door and pulled it shut, leaving us in total darkness. The only comfort I had was his hand on the back of my neck.

God help us all.


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N:** **Another (longer) chapter for everyone, hope you enjoy it. We're seriously almost to the end of the story -sniff-...probably two or three more chapters then it's finished. Don't forget to check out my poll on my profile for which fic y'all would like me to do next. Remember, R&R!!!**

**Shout outs! (A BIG thank you for everyone who put me on their favorites/alerts list. Again, mucho thanksies!)**

**Honey76:** No way would I let Eris die...I like her way too much. lol But for real, I try to have happy-ish ending to all my stories. Might branch out into tragedy sometime in the future, but that's beside the point. Thanks for reviewing, I love reading what you write. D

**Raging Raven:** Yep, this chappie was fun to write because tempers are running high and everyone's all freaking out and stuff. Hope you like it!

**Aragornsgirll:** Flirting between Eris and Riddick is just so natural for them. Tons of fun to write as well. An even _longer_ chapter for you. :P

**NotAfraidToLive:** Aww, thank you. Makes me happy.

**The Group of One:** Sorry about the cliffhanger back there. (In my defense, I didn't even know it was until you pointed it out) You kinda have another one in this chapter too. lol Thank you SO much. I've tried very, very hard not to make Eris a Mary Sue or "too tough". Again, thanks and I hope you like the new chapter. ;)

**Chapter 9**

There was complete silence for a few seconds before a familiar voice cut through the darkness.

"Eris?" Jack called out, sounding scared.

"Right here," I assured. Riddick had moved his hand from my neck to my shoulder and was gently kneading the stressed muscles. It felt absolutely wonderful.

A light clicked on further down the hallway, then another, casting eerie shadows all over the walls. It seemed that the only one who wasn't scared was Riddick, and that in itself was a no-brainer. He lived for this shit.

"She should've stayed down," Jack said brokenly. "If only she would've stayed down, she'd be O.K. She wouldn't have died."

I moved towards the kid, wrapping my arms around him when I reached him. He clung to me as if he was drowning and I was his lifeline, his body shaking with suppressed sobs.

"Shh," I whispered soothingly, laying my cheek on his head, ignoring everyone else around us. It felt good to hold on to someone, since I knew Riddick wouldn't be opening his arms anytime soon unless it was somehow sex-related. I wasn't complaining, just stating facts. Besides, Jack was a good kid and after seeing Ali, Hassan, and Shazza die, well...he needed comforting more than I did.

I felt the shaking slowly stop and leaned back a bit, chucking him under the chin.

"You good?" I asked, mustering a somewhat reassuring smile. I think I succeeded, because he nodded and quickly wiped the tears off his cheeks. "Keep your chin up kid and stick with me."

I kept one arm slung over his shoulder as we all huddled in a circle, locked inside the only secure place left. I wondered if this was how the other settlers felt before they died. I caught Riddick's gaze from across the circle. There were so many things I wanted to do and say, but I couldn't right now. _There may not even be a later_, I thought.

I paused, then took my hair out of it's leather binding, allowing the tresses to tumble messily around my shoulders, not breaking eye contact with the man across from me. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face before he snapped his goggles back in place.

"You remember the boneyard?" Johns asked suddenly, breaking the heavy silence. "These just might be the fuckers that killed every living thing on this planet."

"What are we gonna do now?" Carolyn vocalized the question we were all asking, but had no answer to. "Are these the only lights we have? Is this everything?"

"No," Paris answered, looking around the floor. "There's a cutting torch on the floor. I just can't find it."

"Quiet please, everyone," Imam said sharply, putting his ear to the wall. The others piled up alongside, alert. I decided to stay where I was, not inclined to hear those damned things again. Riddick stayed put as well, motioning me over to his side.

The clicking got louder as a wave of the creatures flew outside the hold, causing the others to step back a step.

"Why do they do that?" Jack asked. "Why do they make that sound?"

"Perhaps it's the way they see," Imam offered. "With sound reflecting back."

I jumped and almost shrieked in surprise when we heard the clicking coming from _behind us_. Hand on my racing heart, I watched in apprehension as the others whirled around, flashlights revealing nothing. There was only the open door of a container about halfway down the tunnel-like hold.

"How the fuck could one get in here?" I hissed, edging even closer to Riddick, ignoring his amused chuckle.

"Um, could be a breach in the hull," Carolyn stammered. "I don't know."

There was a pause.

"Come on, Johns," Riddick razzed. "You got the big gauge."

When Johns realized that everyone wanted _him_ to go investigate, he balked.

"I'd rather piss glass," he remarked flatly. "Why don't you go fuckin' check?"

"I'm not staying here one more second," Paris whimpered, going for the main door latch.

"Where are you going?" Johns barked. "Sit him down."

"Christ, you don't know what's out there!" Carolyn said, lunging towards Paris. With Imam's help, she dragged him back to the group and pushed him down.

"I know what's in here!" he muttered.

"Hurry!" Imam urged, herding us into a container. The door slammed close behind us, my breath hitching in my throat. I felt a large arm snake around my middle and tensed, then relaxed when I was pulled up against a familiar rock-hard chest.

"Now we're trapped in a much smaller space," Paris fretted. "I hate this!"

After his outburst, there was only the sound of everyone sucking on their breathers. Then came the scratching. I heard a hiss and squinted my eyes when Johns held up the cutting torch. Guess he had found it.

He adjusted the gases so the flame burned brighter, revealing the door. The blades poking into the metal of the door were actually the creature's probing _joints_. As one, we stepped back when heavy blows rattled the container.

"Can you do something else with that? Besides holding it in my fuckin' face?" Riddick growled at Johns, the deep sound vibrating through his chest. Johns had moved back so he was level with us, the cutting torch's bright flame burning in his hand and consequently shining in Riddick's sensitive eyes, even though they were covered.

Johns stared at him, then took the hint. He turned and began cutting the common wall between the containers. The clicking got louder as the predators' razor-sharp joints started breaking through the metal.

"Come on," I whispered urgently, sneaking a glance at the wall behind us. "Hurry up!"

The outline was complete and Johns gave the circle a hefty kick. The metal clanged horribly as it fell out on the other side.

"Let's go!" he shouted, waving everyone forward.

Jack speed-crawled through first as the metal behind us groaned and screeched as the creatures tore it down. Imam's boys followed Jack, then Imam, Carolyn, Paris, and Johns. Riddick shoved me to my knees.

"Go!" he roared. I scurried through the hole, Riddick right on my heels. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I heard the creatures rush into the container we just evacuated, shrieking in anger when they realized we had escaped.

I scrambled to my feet to find Johns already working on the wall of the new container, sparks flying as the blowtorch melted through the metal. Riddick slapped my ass, moving me out of the way so he could stand up.

"Faster, Johns!" Carolyn screamed as the container rocked. We all shifted towards he merc when one of predator's sharp joints poked through the hole we had made.

"We're through!"

Same drill. We all squirmed through the new hole, except this time around the order was mixed up and I somehow managed to be last in line. Almost hyperventilating in fear, I crawled as fast as I could through the whole, Jack's small body in front of me. _Go faster Jack_, I thought, sweat dripping into my eyes.

The walls behind me broke down as the creatures swarmed in. I was just about through when I felt something hook into the bottom of my leather pants. I screamed when my knees were pulled out from under me and I was dragged backwards.

"Eris!"

I screamed again when whatever had hooked my pants, moved up and dug further, piercing the skin of my lower calf. I kicked my legs, trying vainly to get free as I heard the others calling my name. I thought I had reached the end of my short life and was about to join Shazza when a large body blocked my view and grabbed my middle, yanking me toward them.

"Fuck!" I gasped as my pant leg ripped and momentum threw me into my rescuer.

The two of us lay there for a second or two, my chest heaving as I whimpered in relief and pain, until the body underneath me moved, then stood, pulling me up with them.

"Riddick," I half sobbed, half laughed as I leaned on him. This was a _lot_ worse than I had ever imagined. "Shit, I don't know if I can do this."

"Do _not_ give up on me now, Eris," he growled, supporting me with one arm. "Get your ass in gear. Do you hear me?"

I nodded and tested my bad leg, surprised when there wasn't a lot of pain, just a dull throb. I figured that my fear-filled mind must have made it out to be worse than what it really was.

"No time," Johns said, looking over my shoulder into the container behind us. "You ready?"

I clenched my jaw and nodded as everyone filed through the third hole Johns had just finished melting before I was grabbed. Riddick drew up the rear this time, making sure I was going fast enough by slapping my ass.

We blasted through our fourth, then fifth container, the predators still on our trail. In our last one we found a bunch of cargo lying around, and while Johns torched away, Carolyn, Paris and I shoved it against the hole, leaning our weight against it to hold the creatures at bay. Riddick joined us, pausing when he noticed something on the walls.

I watched, confused as he vanished into the darkness, leaving us behind.

"Hello? Hello?" Paris called out, but received no answer. I shrugged and just kept my weight on the cargo until Johns kicked open the new escape hatch. Everyone filed through until only Imam, one of his students, and I were left, staring in the general direction where Riddick had disappeared.

"Riddick?" I tried. Nothing.

Before Imam and I could stop him, his student ran off into the darkness.

"Shit," I cursed, slapping my leg in frustration. Was everyone going to continue running off like that?

"Imam," Carolyn hissed, sticking her head back into the room. "Where are they?"

The holy man gave a helpless shrug and I shook my head. Carolyn climbed back into the container, flashlight in hand, the other four crowding behind her. We cautiously moved forward, pausing every few seconds to listen. There was a scuffle and clicking ahead.

"Hassan?" Imam called.

"Riddick?" Carolyn asked, shining her light all around us.

The clicking stopped and we all froze. What happened? A scream ripped through the silence as Carolyn and I started running towards the sound. We rounded a corner and stopped, Carolyn lifting her light, shining it directly into Riddick's unprotected eyes.

He gave a howl and dove off to the side, the beam from the light delving deeper into the darkness to reveal one of the predators, right on his tail. The creature had a reaction similar to Riddick's and flailed backwards, trying to get away from the light.

Carolyn screamed when Johns' shotgun went off right next to her ear. The man was shooting anything that moved, even the shadows.

"Stop it, stop it!" I shouted. "You're wasting shells!"

"It's O.K.," he breathed, lowering his gun. "I killed it."

I gave him a look, then skittered backwards when a carcass dropped to the ground right in front of us. _Damn, he _did_ kill one_, I thought as we inched forwards. Carolyn scooped up the flashlight that she had dropped in her surprise and shone it on the creature's body.

"Hassan? Where is Hassan?" Imam asked frantically, but nobody answered as we stared in fascination at one of the things that hunted us.

"Is it alive?" Jack whispered, eyes wide.

"No, I don't think so," I replied as Carolyn shone the light on it. "Hey, look at that."

Where the light touched the creature's skin, it bubbled and started burning.

"It's like the light is scalding it," Paris remarked, keeping his distance from the body, even though it was dead.

"It hurts them," Carolyn announced, almost gleefully. "Light actually hurts them."

Riddick appeared with his goggles firmly in place. I noticed the cut in his tank and the thin line of blood. Guess the things got curious. Heads shot up when we heard vulture-like sounds from up ahead.

"Is that Hassan?" Imam asked Riddick. When he nodded, the holy man bowed his head. Poor guy, he was down to one student.

"We'll burn a candle for him later," Johns said. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

The others moved off, and after taking one last look at the carcass, I followed. Riddick joined me in the back, entwining his hand in my hair as we walked to the container.

"Leg?" he rumbled quietly, noticing my slight limp. I shook my head.

"Haven't looked at it yet. I don't think it's too bad," I replied. "I think the predator just scraped the skin. Ruined my favorite pair pants though."

Riddick chuckled and let go of my hair as we filed through the hole into the sixth container. Johns, Carolyn and Paris blocked the entrance with a bunch of heavy cargo, making sure it was secure. I noticed they have moved cargo to every single possibly opening and nodded in approval. We sure as hell weren't taking any chances this time around.

We gathered around Carolyn's hand light and held a pow-wow. I saw Jack huddled by Paris and gave the kid an encouraging smile.

"So, we've got one cutting torch," Carolyn said, taking inventory. "We've got two hand lights. There's gotta be something we can rip out of the crash ship."

"Spirits," Paris offered from his position on the floor. Carlyn, Riddick, and I remained standing while everyone else sat. "Anything over 45 proof burns rather well."

"How many bottles you got?" Carolyn asked.

"Um, I don't know," Paris said. He thought for a second. "Maybe ten?"

After staring at Carolyn for a few minutes, I finally realized what she was doing. She wanted us to make a try for the cells and eventually, the skiff.

"Perfect," I said, nodding when Carolyn's surprised eyes met mine.

"Johns, you got some flares," she stated. "Maybe we got enough light."

The merc's head shot up. "Enough for fuckin' what?"

Carolyn drew in a breath. "We stick to the plan. We get the five cells back to the skiff. We're off this rock."

"I hate to ruin a beautiful theory with an ugly fact," Paris interjected. "But that sandcat is solar. It won't run at night."

Carolyn wasn't deterred. "So we carry the cells. We drag them. Whatever it takes."

"You mean tonight?" Jack's face went white. "With all those things still out there?"

"All right. Now how long can this last?" johns asked, standing. "A few hours? A day, tops?"

"I had the impression from the model," Imam spoke up for the first time since Hassan died, "The two planets were moving as one...and there would be a lasting darkness."

Johns shook his head in disbelief. "These suns gotta come up sometime. If these creatures are phobic about light, then we just sit tight and let the sun come up."

"I'm sure somebody else said that," Carolyn said lowly. "Locked inside that coring room."

Johns sat there, jaw clenched, his eyes roving about the room before lighting on Jack's pitiful form.

"We need to think about everybody, especially the kid," he said. "He'll be scared out there in the dark."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Johns," I snapped.

"Don't use him like that," Carolyn warned, a look of disgust on her face.

"Like what?" Johns decided to play innocent.

"Like a smoke screen," Carolyn said. "Deal with your fear."

Johns narrowed his eyes in anger as he bit out, "Why don't you shut up for two seconds and let me come up with a plan that doesn't involve mass suicide?"

Carolyn did as he requested...for a few seconds.

"I'm waiting," Carolyn said, arms crossed, eyebrow raised. _Damn, she's adopted my attitude_, I thought, amused. "How much do you weigh?"

"What's it matter?" Johns asked, a puzzled expression on his face.

"How much?" Carolyn demanded.

"Around 79 kilos, to be exact--"

"You're 79 kilos of gutless meat," she interrupted. "That's why you can't think of a plan."

"Hiding behind a kid? God," I agreed. "You're a coward and an asshole, Johns. Always have been, always will be."

"Is that fuckin' right?" he growled, getting to his feet, making a move towards me. I lifted my chin defiantly, waiting for him.

When Riddick's large frame moved in front of me, blocking Johns path, I had to admit I was surprised.

"Where you goin?" Johns sneered, shotgun bumping the underside of his chin. Riddick took his goggles off and stared at the merc through his shined eyes. The two men's gaze locked in a battle of wills, before Riddick smirked and dropped his eyes to something.

Johns followed to find Riddick's shiv poised at his balls, ready to eviscerate the man. The merc immediately backed off, slinking over to his corner like a beaten animal. Riddick stared at him for a few seconds, eyes radiating a clear warning: Don't fuck with her.

_Shit_, I thought, amazed. _How much have I gotten under his skin?_

"Please, this solves nothing," Imam pleaded.

"They're afraid of our light," Carolyn said to Jack. "That means we don't have to be afraid of them."

"And are you sure you can get us there?" Imam queried. "Even in the dark?"

"No, I can't," Carolyn said after a beat. Then, "But he can."

As I stared up into Riddick's uncovered eyes, I realized that she was right. He spared a glance at Carolyn, nodding his head slightly. Everyone except Johns breathed a thankful sigh of relief.

I touched Riddick's arm to get his attention, then teased softly so only he could hear, "Look who's playin' hero."

Riddick smirked, then said, "Let's look at your leg. You can't be bleeding' or they'll come after you."

Oh, yeah. I had completely forgotten about my leg. As the others began to chatter excitedly now that they had some hope, I sat on a large crate and pulled my mangled pant leg up and took a look at my calf.

"Geez," I murmured. "I'm one lucky bitch, thanks to you."

The skin had been sliced only a little bit and had stopped bleeding. If anything, it was like a very shallow cut from a shiv and didn't need stitches, thank goodness.

Riddick just grunted as he examined my leg, purposely running his hand up under my knee, his eyes boring into mine. _Not again_, I thought with a groan. He was probably getting me back for the comment I made about my bra back at the settlement.

"You win," I hissed, batting his hand away. "Now stop it."

I looked around, trying to find something to clean the blood off. There was no way I'd rip my shirt since there wasn't that much left. I'd end up being shirtless. "Hey Imam, could you spare some cloth?"

The holy man smiled at me and ripped a piece off his turban, then stood and handed it to Riddick before sitting back down. The convict pulled a bottle out of his pocket and my eyes widened.

"Oh, hell no," I said. He was holding my bottle of rum that I left at the settlement and it looked like he was going to clean my cut with it. "That shit _hurts_."

He gave me a look and my mouth snapped shut. "Fine."

Riddick uncorked the bottle and took a swig before poising it over my calf. I made a quick decision and snatched it from his hand, taking a very large gulp before handing it back.

"Waste not," was my excuse when he shot me an amused look. Shrugging, he placed the rag under my leg and poured the rum over the cut.

I hissed in pain and clenched my teeth as the alcohol cleaned it out. That stuff _really_ hurt. Riddick put the bottle to the side and gently wiped all the blood away so there was only a thin red line left on my leg.

He took the hem of his own shirt and ripped some off in a small strip before tying it around the cut so it was completely covered.

"Thanks," I whispered as he pulled what was left of my pant leg back down.

"You're welcome," he said gruffly, back to his usual Big Bad self. I rolled my eyes as I hopped off the crate.

I smiled when Riddick, under the pretense of reaching for the rum bottle that was on the crate behind me, leaned over and planted a kiss on my neck. I quickly kissed his jaw before he straightened up and we turned back towards the group.

"You finished?" Carolyn asked, glancing at my leg.

"Yes," I replied "It wasn't that bad."

"Grab all the lights we have," Johns said, a sour look on his face. He obviously still thought we were committing suicide by leaving the cargo hold. "We're heading out."

Everyone grabbed all the lights we had brought with us, Johns picking the blowtorch back up. He turned the gas knobs, making sure the flame was as high as it could go. Riddick put his goggles on and we turned to the door across from the blocked hole we had made. I swallowed nervously as Riddick moved towards the latch.

This was it.


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hey everyone, sorry it took SO long to update. I'm finally all moved in and working, so I should be updating regularly from now on. I admit this is a shorter chapter and I apologize, but I wanted to at least get something out for y'all. A HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed and put me on their favs/alerts list. I love y'all! **

**Shout outs!**

**aragornsgirll:** Haha thanks for the review! Glad you're enjoying it.

**Honey76:** As always, I love reading your reviews. I was trying to have Eris be tough, but still wind up being scared, because she is human and I know I would be so f.cking scared if I were in that situation. lol.

**dragonmamma:** LOL, love it! It's so much fun sneaking in little things like that kiss. I'm evil like that.

**The Group Of One:** Hey, thanks for the review. I admit it's a bit hard to write for Riddick because he's such a simple, yet complex character. It can drive you crazy.

**Raging Raven:** Yup. All the pain and scary sh.t is on its way.

**Amora M.:** Hey, a new reviewer! Glad you like it so far...we'll see how Eris deals in the next chapter.

**Lovebuggy:** Never fear, an update is here! Haha, thanks for reviewing and enjoy!

**peytonf:** Here's your update!

**gizmossidekick:** Here's some more...enjoy!

**FluidDegree:** Me too! New female characters are usually my favorite fics to read.

**RavenDiesel1:** Your wish is my command...

**NotAfraidToLive:** So glad you liked it...hope you like this chappie too.

**Jessica Hatchett:** Thank you for being patient. lol I finally got another chapter out, so I hope you like it.

**Tricksy Pixie:** Hey, I love your username. Oh, so are you a smartass too? 'Cuz I'm ALL smartass, and it's started to carry over into my normal computer use. LOL!

**bunni23:** Aw, thank you! I really like Eris too...she's a lot of fun to write for.

**welivetonight:** Thanks! Hope you like the newest chapter.

**Chapter 10**

Riddick flipped the latch and pulled the door open. The metal creaked and groaned, sounding loud in our tense silence. Johns had somehow passed the blowtorch to Carolyn, which caused me to roll my eyes when I noticed. Pussy.

The convict was silent as he stood there, surveying the landscape, the goggles firmly back in place. We could hear the creatures flying overhead, and let me tell you, it was fairly nerve-wracking. Carolyn slowly moved forward and thrust the torch into the darkness. Nothing.

I pursed my lips and wiped my sweaty palms on my pants as Riddick stepped out of the cargo hold, the rest of us following behind like frightened rabbits. Carolyn held the torch high, periodically waving it around.

"Let's go," Riddick rumbled, taking off towards the cabin at a trot. I took a breath and followed, vaguely hearing the other survivors footsteps behind and beside me. In the darkness that surrounded us we could hear the growls and shrieks of the creatures when they tried to venture too close and got pushed back because of the light. They were getting frustrated and I really didn't think that was a good thing.

We made it to the cabin and stopped a large pile of sand leading up into the entryway. I stood by the Big Bad, straining to see anything within the darkness, but to no avail. Go figure.

"Riddick," Carolyn urged.

The man took off his goggles and peered into the forbidding hole, shined eyes roving back and forth.

"Looks clear," he said, putting his goggles back over his eyes. Johns stepped up beside me with his shotgun and I instinctively scooted closer to Riddick. Behind me, I heard someone quickly cover a laugh with a cough and it sounded suspiciously like Carolyn. That woman was _finally_ branching out into a more...open attitude.

Anyway, we all watched as Johns shouldered the shotgun and slowly started crawling up the sand dune, Riddick and I following. I gasped when the large man suddenly dropped onto his stomach, dragging me down with him. Not even a second later a large predator flew out of the cabin and went shrieking into the night.

"You said _'Clear'_," Johns hissed from his flat-bellied position beside me, a spooked look on his face.

Riddick turned his head to stare at the merc. "I said, _'Looks clear'_."

"Well, what's it look like now?" Johns bit out.

Riddick raised his head to look into the hole, then back at Johns. "Looks clear."

I snorted as Johns glared, his lips pressed into a thin, angry line. The two men stood up and moved into the hole, the rest of us following behind. I placed a hand over my still racing heart and shook my head. That was a close one. Riddick had saved my ass...again.

Carolyn held the blowtorch high as we entered the cabin. "Start looking for any kind of light you can find," she ordered. "Alcohol, nylon cords...anything."

Johns and Riddick went over to the power cells as Paris found the switch for the cabin lights and flipped it on. Oh, God. Wonderful. I think everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as the cabin was flooded with light. Well, until some of the lights went out. That wasn't so great.

I looked over at the two men who were busy with the cells and raised an eyebrow as Riddick's muscles flexed from picking up the heavy metal. Dammit. Plus he had his goggles off. _O.K. Girl_, I thought. _Keep it together_.

"Come on," I said, nudging a frightened Jack. "Let's go find some light."

The kid and I threaded through the debris, searching for anything that would burn. I found another blowtorch and twisted the knob to make sure it had a flame. Yep, we're good. A few minutes later we found Paris sitting on the floor surrounded by alcohol bottles, nylon, and a couple of his misting umbrellas.

"Oh, good," he said, looking up when we approached. "I found some high-octane liquor that we can use."

"Alright," I said, surveying the mess on the floor. "Let's get this stuff working."

With the three of us working, we ripped the fabric off and threaded the nylon through the misting umbrellas, which only totaled two because Paris wanted some nylon left to wear around his body. I secretly thought it was a good idea, so I didn't argue with the man and just set some coils to the side.

We had Jack busy uncorking the full bottles and pouring half into empty ones, then stuffing some ripped rags we had found into the bottles so they could get saturated with alcohol.

"Cork them back up, but lightly," I said. "If anything happens and someone falls, we don't want all that alcohol spilling into the ground. And make sure you wrap the cloth around the cork."

Jack followed my instructions to a 'T', much to my pleasure. The kid was a fast learner. All three of us looked up when Carolyn appeared.

"Come on," she gestured. "Riddick and Johns have pulled the cells out and loaded them. We're getting ready to head out."

We all loaded up on our fire-burning supplies and exited the ship. I turned my blowtorch on while Paris prepared one of his misting umbrellas. Jack went over to Imam's single remaining student and handed him a bottle of alcohol. I followed and lit Jack's, then the little boy's. I headed towards Paris and we got him all set up, including the nylons. I put a coil around my neck and across my back and kept my blowtorch.

Now that we had some light, I could see Imam chained into the first harness of the drag-sled and Johns struggling with the second harness. I bit my lip to keep from smiling when Riddick came up and helped the merc. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds before Riddick moved away.

"I'll be runnin' 10 paces ahead," Riddick announced. "I want light on my back but not in my eyes. And check your cuts. These bad boys know our blood now."

He shot me a look and jerked his head towards him. I looked around at everyone else. They seemed occupied so I went over to the large man who bent his head towards me.

"I want you running between me and the sled," he instructed quietly. "Keep going, no matter what. Understand?"

I looked up at him and searched his uncovered eyes, not sure what was going through his mind or what his intentions were. It seemed like he wanted me to make it and was doing everything in his power to make that happen...but I knew if I couldn't keep up he'd leave me with no qualms whatsoever.

With that in mind, I slowly nodded. He smirked down at me and gently pushed me towards the others.

I returned just in time to hear Paris ask a critical question: "Are we actually going to do this?"

We all looked at each other's scared faces. Well, except for me. At this point things were starting to look up and I was holding on to that as tight as I could.

"We stay together," Carolyn said, trying to sound strong. Hey, I had to give her some credit. She almost pulled it off. Almost. "We keep the light burning. Thats all we gotta do to live through this thing."

"Are you ready?" Riddick asked, looping a nylon light around his neck and down his back like mine.

"Look, we're just wasting light here," Carolyn replied.

As we got into position and got ready to pull out, I heard Johns behind me.

"You give him the cells and the ship...and he'll leave all of you."

"I don't get it." Carolyn. "What is so goddamn valuable in your life that you're worried about losing? Is there anything at all? Besides your next spike?"

There was silence, then the sound of departing footsteps. I smiled and stifled a chuckle, not wanting to rile him up anymore. At least, not right now.

"Stay close," Riddick said as he took his place in front and started running. I was sandwiched between him and the sled, while Imam's remaining student was on one side, Jack on the other, and a freaked out Paris in the back. Carolyn floated from side to side with the other blowtorch, making sure we were covered with light.

The shotgun was sitting in the sled with the cells and a few extra bottles of booze, plus the nylons. Not bad for the light situation. Now all we had to do was hope it was enough.

We were officially on the move.


	12. Chapter 11

**Authors Note:** **Hey everyone! Goodness gracious, it's almost been a year since I've updated, and I'm TERRIBLY sorry for that. Life has been so crazy since I moved to Ohio...and not all of it of the good, sadly. Therefore, writing was not my top priority. But now, I've got some time on my hands until I move (yes, again) and I had the sudden urge to write, so here it is. Short chappie, I know, but I wanted to push something out for y'all since it's been such a long wait. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and adds. They mean so much. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 11**

We all took off at a jog, sucking in our breathers, holding our lights high. Riddick was setting a quick, yet steady pace, enough that we were covering ground without dropping from exhaustion. I was still sandwiched in between Riddick and the sled, my blowtorch waving back and forth in the darkness. You could hear the creatures clicking in the distance, some sounding closer than others and it was never something I wanted to hear again.

I glanced back at the others and noticed the determined looks on their faces, even the two remaining kids. Johns and Imam were pulling the sled, hand lights cutting through the darkness ahead. Imam's remaining student was on one side of the sled, while Carolyn and Jack were on the other side, the two boys carrying umbrella torches, Carolyn carrying her blowtorch. Everyone had lighted coils wrapped around some part of their body. I glanced further back and noticed Paris' terrified face. He looked about ready to shit himself. Even from all the way up here I could see the sweat dripping down his face and the way the hand holding the light shook. Damn.

"Move, Eris!" Johns snapped. Startled, I realized that I had fallen behind a bit and the two men were about to run me over. I turned back around and picked up the pace, berating myself for slacking. _Stupid, Eris. Stupid. That's what gets you killed._

"Wait." Paris' voice.

I kept up the pace, but turned my head in time to see his blowtorch sputter out. The stupid man stopped walking to tinker with the damn thing. I saw his lips move, but couldn't hear what he was saying. Then everyone could.

"Get back here!"

Carolyn and the Jack shined their lights on him.

"Are you alright?" Carolyn shouts.

"Come ON Paris," I muttered. "Stay in the light, dumbass."

Then he dropped it. Bad part was that we kept moving, he didn't. AND Carolyn and Jack had turned their lights forward again. He unhooked his lighted harness to grab the bottle. I felt my breath catch in my throat when the clicking suddenly stopped. Oh, shit. This was not of the good. Then we heard his scream.

"Oh, sweet Jesus, WILL YOU GET ME SOME LIGHT OVER HERE?!"

Before anyone had time to swing a light his way, we heard the flying creatures above us, clicking in glee. Maybe the heat, alcohol, and fear was starting to get at me and I was becoming delusional, but that's what it sounded like to me. We all stopped and shined our lights towards the sound, but we were too late to help Paris. The creatures had taken him like Shazza. All we heard were shrieks of pain, then nothing. Except the damn clicking, of course.

There was silence among the rest of us. We were being picked off, one by one, and everyone knew it. Not a very comforting thought, me thinks. Not comforting at all. At this point it was almost every man for himself.

"Let's move."

I shrieked in surprise before slapping a hand over my mouth. I hadn't heard Riddick come up behind me until he spoke.

"Don't DO that," I hissed as I turned around, my eyes narrowed into slits. "Dammit Riddick, you're going to give me a heart attack."

He stared at me impassively, goggles off, before turning around and setting the pace again. We all started moving, but I couldn't help but be a little hurt at Riddick's cold silence. I mean, I tried to be realistic and rationalize it as Paris just got killed and we needed to hurry up so we could get off this fucked up plant alive, but still. The stress of staying alive was getting to me and I was a little more sensitive than usual. Bite me.

We had been running in silence for around 10-15 minutes, before I vaguely heard Carolyn ask Jack a question over the men's huffing and puffing.

"Can we pick up the pace?" Carolyn called out. _We must be running out of light. _

"If you think you could do better..." Johns growled behind me. I had to smile at that one. My smile fell when I heard Johns' shotgun cock and he stormed past me to point the weapon at Riddick's head.

"You want to tell me what's goin' on?" Riddick asked slowly. Warningly.

"We crossed our own tracks." Imam.

"What?" I looked down at our feet and gasped. The holy man was right.

"Why have we circled?" Johns demanded, ready to blow Riddick's head off.

"Are we lost?" Carolyn asked, forehead scrunching in worry.

"Listen." Riddick.

"Do you even know where we are?!" Johns shouted.

"Listen!" Riddick roared. Well _that_ shut everyone up. Wish I could do that. "Canyon ahead. I circled once to buy some time to think."

"I think we should go now," Carolyn said.

Johns removed his gun from Riddick's head when the bigger man turned around to face the group.

"I don't know about that," the convict drawled. "That's death row up there. Especially with the girl bleeding."

"What?" Johns looked at Riddick like he was nuts. He jerked his head towards me. "What are you talkin' about? She's not cut."

I looked down at my body. Yep. Cut free. Johns and I looked at Carolyn.

"Not her," Riddick said. "Her."

Everyone's eyes immediately went to Jack. Well fuck me sideways.

"You gotta be kidding me," Johns growled, completely exasperated.

"I thought it'd be better," Jack stammered, "if people took me for a guy. I thought they might leave me alone instead of always messing with me. I'm sorry."

Well that certainly explained a lot of things. Especially how affectionate he, I mean _she_, was. I felt bad for her though. And at a time like this.

"Are you really bleeding?" Carolyn asked, compassion in her voice.

"You could've left me at the ship," Jack tentatively explained. "That's why I didn't say something sooner."

"They've been nose-open for her ever since we left," Riddick said, goggled in place now that he was facing everyone's light. He smirked. "In case you haven't noticed, they go off blood."

There was a beat.

"Look, this isn't going to work," Carolyn said, looking at Johns and Riddick. "We're gonna have to go back." I cast a nervous glance around us. They were still clicking.

Johns' eyes narrowed. Uh oh.

"What did you say?" he asked, voice deadly. "You're the one who got us out here...and made us into sled dogs."

"I was wrong, I admit it," Carolyn snapped. "Can we just get back to the ship?"

Everyone else had been silent the whole time, myself included, which surprised me. Showed how run down I was getting. I think Riddick may have noticed my lack of enthusiasm for a fight because I felt him shift closer to me and start toying with my hair that I had put back up into a pony-tail. I inwardly grinned.

"I don't know," Johns said, leaning on his shotgun. "Nice breeze. Wide-open space. I'm startin' to enjoy myself out here."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing my ass off. I did not, nor would I ever like Johns, but that was pretty damn funny.

"are you high again?" Carolyn asked, a disgusted look on her face. "Listen to yourself."

"I thought it was funny," I muttered. Riddick gently pulled on my hair. I hoped that was a gesture of agreement.

"No, no, you're right. What's to be afraid of? My life's just a steaming pile of meaningless shit anyhow," Johns mocked. "So I say, 'Mush on'. The canyon's only meters and after that it's skiff city. Why don't you butch up, shove a cork in this fuckin' kid and let's go."

Ok, funny guy routine had disappeared once he said that about Jack. Not like it was HER fault she started her monthly at this point and time. Asshole. As usual.

"She's the captain, " Imam interjected. "Listen to her."

"Listen to her?" Johns scoffed. "When she was willing to sacrifice us?"

"what? When?" I finally spoke up.

"This does not help us." Carolyn spoke through gritted teeth.

"The crash," Johns glared. "She tried to blow the passenger cabin, tried to kill us in our sleep."

"Shut your mouth!" Carolyn shouted.

I felt like I had taken a punch to the stomach. Carolyn?

"We _are_ disposable." Johns continued to rag her. "We're just walkin' ghosts to you?"

"Shut your fucking blowhole!" Carolyn screamed, her chest heaving, fists clenched. "Fine! You made your point. We can all be scared."

"How much do you weigh now?" Johns gloated. "The verdict's in. The light moves forward."

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding in. Damn, we were screwed. What was left of our group was slowly tearing apart at the seams and I didn't know how in the wide world we were going to make it to the skiff now. All I had was Riddick's solid strength behind me.

And even then I wondered if he'd be enough to get us, me, through the night...


End file.
